<p>When choosing your dining option, there is a box you can check for $100 or $200 for the "Stamp Union add-on". The website doesn't explain what this is exactly and how this would be a benefit versus just using cash. Can anyone explain and recommend whether this is an option that is worthwhile?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>There’s no benefit whatsoever. Always get the cheapest possible meal plan if you’re required to get one at all.</p>
<p>Not sure I understand the logic behind that? Why would the cheapest meal plan be the best? Aren’t you then likely to run out of points?</p>
<p>Yeah, choosing the cheapest meal plan does seem the most reasonable.</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaking, I believe 1 Dining Point/Terp Buck/etc… corresponds to one dollar. If you think about it logically, if you were to run out, using cash/credit cards/debit cards would be the best option. I mean, why would you opt for a plan with more points? Really, you’re just converting cash to the same value in meal points but diminishing your purchasing power by restricting what you can buy with it. Plus, you would have to worry about focus dates, losing points at semester’s end, etc…</p>
<p>EDIT: Actually, now that I see the dining plan rates, it appears that you actually have to pay more per resident point/Terp Buck than it is actually worth. For example, one meal plan costs $1966 for 1175 resident points and 265 Terp Bucks, or $1440 worth of this campus currency. That’s basically paying ~$1.39 for one point worth $1. More the reason to pick a cheap meal plan…</p>
<p>I’m actually not certain about the conversion between resident points and dollars.</p>
<p>But one thing is for certain, and that is that there is no benefit to the STAMP add-on plan whatsoever. That DOES convert dollar for dollar (as does Terrapin Express). </p>
<p>It is worth the same as cash, but you can only use it on food in the Stamp. So, pointless much? Just load up your debit card instead. The food on route 1 is cheaper and better anyway.</p>
<p>I do generally agree the cheapest dining plan is the smartest option. The “middle” option, Resident Plan, is $1966 for Fall semester. Fall semester is 4 months. So that is over $400 a month in food alone. Who the HECK spends $400 on food for a single person?!</p>
<p>However, if you plan to eat three meals a day, every day, you’re right, you may run out of dining points since the diner is extremely overpriced. In that case, though, using your debit card in the diner is equivalent to or less than buying points (but more sickening because you can actually see how much that fairly sub-par food costs…it is more expensive than eating out!).</p>
<p>Dining plans are nice if you get mommy and daddy to pay for them (which I did, not gonna lie), because the food is fairly healthy (yes, it’s better than eating out every day in THAT sense) and it takes no effort to eat a decent amount and eat well. But in terms of value for the money they are horrendous, and as soon as you get a kitchen (in upperclassmen suites or apartments), get off the dining plan asap!!! The good news is even freshman high rise dorms have a full kitchen in the basement - no one ever uses them so they are always free for cooking if you are not horribly lazy (which most people are…again including myself).</p>
<p>Ah, I found it. One point DOES, in fact equal one dollar. Geez, these dining plans really are complete rip-offs. -_-</p>
<p>From some UMD orientation site:</p>
<p>Definitions</p>
<p>Resident Points
May be used in the South Campus Dining Room and The Diner. Adele’s Restaurant accepts
Resident Points for dinner. One point equals one dollar. If all the Resident Points have been used,
these locations will automatically tap into the Terp Bucks account so the student can continue to
eat in our dining rooms.</p>
<p>Terp Bucks
Provide you with flexibility in spending meal points and are for use in locations that include some
of our caf</p>
<p>Dumb question: are the dining rooms open when the campus is closed due to weather (like today)?</p>
<p>Yes, but I know my 2 have already ordered out…</p>
<p>They have limited hours, but are open. For example, the diner was open from 11am-7pm today. [Although it would have closed at 7pm anyway, because there isn’t Late Night on Fridays and Saturdays].</p>
<p>If you run out of meal points, you can always pay cash or eat somewhere else where they serve real food.</p>
<p>So does the meal plan cover a certain amount of meals every week in the dining hall, but if you don’t eat in the dining hall, you are using cash credits? It is soooo confusing! I’m assuming that the dining halls are “all you can eat”…or am I wrong and you pay for everything you eat with points. What about the other places? Arghh!</p>
<p>No, you were right with your last assumption. The dining halls here are NOT “all you can eat” style. Everything you get in the dining halls is charged invidivually, like a piece of fruit is $1, cookies are $.99, and I think the dinner special/Blue Plate which changes every day is closer to $8. What other places are you referring to? Stamp is basically like any other food court so you just pay with whatever, either cash or Terrapin Express or something. If you run out, which most ppl do, I also suggest not paying your own money for Diner (we call the dining halls here the Diner and South Campus) food, but going to stamp or Rt. 1 instead.</p>