<p>Can anyone explain the difference between Eagle Bucks and Dining Dollars on a typical AU meal plan. The web always explains Eagle Bucks but never explains how Dining Dollars are different or how each is used differently. Thanks.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/upload/Dining-Dollars-Memo-to-Students-Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/upload/Dining-Dollars-Memo-to-Students-Final.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you, DP.</p>
<p>Figuring out the best plan seems so difficult if you really don’t know what the dining options are!</p>
<p>The freshmen have to get at least the 150 meal plan. Even though the swipes are really pricey, the additional swipes you get if you go up to 175 or 200 meals are quite inexpensive–like, $4/meal.</p>
<p>But I don’t know where you can use those swipes. I’d like to see a chart that shows all the on-campus dining options, and what is available for cash, swipes, Dining Dollars, etc.</p>
<p>You can use your card at any of the places on campus (listed here:[Dining</a> Hrs and Location](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/finance/auxservices/Dining-Hrs-and-Location.cfm]Dining”>http://www.american.edu/finance/auxservices/Dining-Hrs-and-Location.cfm)). Dining Dollars is new this school year (2011-2012). When you get there it will all become clear. My daughter bought the Super Meal Plan in her freshman year and found that she didn’t always make it to the main dining hall (TDR) or another place to eat and would just eat elswhere. I reccommend the 200 plan. It’s a bit cheaper and you will have plenty of swipes. The Super Plan is not worth it.</p>
<p>It looks like only the TDR, Tavern, and Tenley dining venues take the “swipes,” along with the place in the Mary Graydon Center that provides boxed lunches for swipes. Everywhere else is drawing from the declining-dollar balance (dining dollars and Eagle Bucks). I could see my daughter preferring to grab a sandwich at Subway or some sushi from the MGC rather than going to one of the venues where her meal swipes are valid. So even though the extra 50 swipes/semester (to go from the minimum freshman plan up to the 200 block plan) @ $4/swipe sounds really cost-effective to me, I wonder if it will match up with what she actually winds up eating.</p>
<p>My D had the 150 plan last year (freshman year). She wasn’t always able to make it to TDR during dining hours so she used Eagle Bucks for other venues or went to Whole Foods (also takes Eagle Bucks) and bought food to keep in her room. I believe that she did run out of swipes during the last week of school, but all of her friends had enough extra swipes that she just sponged off of them. According to D - 150 might not have been quite enough and 200 was too much, so I’m glad that they added a 175 this year.</p>
<p>What we figured out last year is that if you are not eating a full meal (i.e. grabbing a bagel or a snack), it’s not worth it to use swipes. My D is a breakfast eater and she had early classes so she liked going to TDR, where she could get a full breakfast. We ended up bumping her up from the 150 to the 200. The Super Plan did not make sense for her. </p>
<p>You do have a week or two in to the semester to make changes up or down on the meal plan so if you’re in doubt, have your student monitor how they eat once classes start. </p>
<p>The other thing to know, which was not clear until I went to the Parent Orientation, is that you will need to add EagleBucks to your student’s account, no matter which plan they are on. $300 in EB doesn’t get you through the semester for food, laundry, printing services, etc.</p>
<p>Boo to American for making students pay every time they do laundry. Two other kids’ schools do not. They just pay for their own detergent. That is what it is, but what is meant by “printing services”?</p>
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<p>Seriously? Wow, I’ve never heard of such a thing!</p>
<p>I dunno. On one hand, I understand that AU is expensive (and that in particular, AU charges an arm and a leg for housing). On the other hand, I like the notion that my kid might learn that everything, including laundry, costs money, and that her parents have been including her as part of their overhead for 18 years.</p>
<p>Then again, she’s 18. It will probably never occur to her.</p>
<p>“…On the other hand, I like the notion that my kid might learn that everything, including laundry, costs money, and that her parents have been including her as part of their overhead for 18 years…”</p>
<p>Thus the existence of Room & Board fees. If I wanted to emphasize every little cost, I’d house her in an off-campus apartment next door to a laundrymat. :)</p>
<p>But I get that–every school is different. Still, what are “printing services”? We sent our eldest with a printer freshman year, but in short order she no longer used it, preferring the on-campus computer labs to print. We were told the same thing at AU Preview Day, so we were not planning on sending little D with one. However, if there is some fee for printing…</p>
<p><a href=“http://bender.library.american.edu:8083/print/?p=6[/url]”>http://bender.library.american.edu:8083/print/?p=6</a></p>
<p>We did send D with a small printer but there were times that she would print or copy at the library – and that’s done on Eagle Bucks. I don’t think the charges were unreasonable. </p>
<p>We did look at a few schools that didn’t charge for laundry but also saw some that still used coin op machines. I thought the Eaglebucks with the esuds system was pretty good.</p>
<p>We looked at a lot of schools and all charged for laundry. While it would be nice to get something for free it is not something I am upset about.</p>
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<p>But even then, NJMom, it wouldn’t really be free.</p>
<p>This reminds me of the time when, years ago, my wife and I took our kids to Anaheim, Calif., to visit The Costliest Place on Earth. We decided to splurge, and stay in the Disneyland Hotel. As hotel guests, we got some perks. As we were checking in, my girls came up to show me some pamphlet, and they added enthusiastically, “And, Daddy, it’s free!”</p>
<p>I said, “OK, kids, let’s get this straight now. This is Disneyland. Nothing is free. Some things might be included, but believe me, nothing is free.”</p>
<p>It was a great trip anyway.</p>
<p>Touche’ Sikorsky!</p>
<p>Yes, I thought that my D. would be doing laundry all the time…like at home. But she learned that you don’t have to wash as often if you a.) must do it yourself and b.) you can wear a shirt again if it’s not dirty. She learned to economize and conserve. She has brought those skills home this summer, as she has learned that her Dad and i don’t have the letters ATM on our foreheads. 
They learn so much about others and themselves.</p>
<p>This summer my D (an AU soph) is staying on a campus in rural Texas that still uses quarters for the ancient washing machines. She is definitely appreciating eSuds, and adequate air conditioning, and a “gourmet” cafeteria. She can’t wait to get back to AU!</p>