<p>is there any difference between the two other than that garnet bucks roll over until graduation and flex bucks are only good for one semester? can they be used in all of the same places?</p>
<p>Yes they are otherwise the same. Just one comes with the meal plan (and expire)and one you buy outright (don’t expire), Otherwise they act the same.</p>
<p>thank you so much!</p>
<p>Can someone give like an estimate of the cost of a meal at Suwannee and the other places around FSU?
Also, I heard it’s an all-you-can-eat style, so how does the pricing for this work?</p>
<p>Using Flex Bucks at Suwannee or Freshfood:</p>
<p>Dinner: 9.43
Lunch: 7.43
Breakfast: 6.43</p>
<p>Otherwise it’s 9.99, 7.99, and 6.99 respectively.</p>
<p>I’ve advocated many times against certain meal plans, because depending on which meal plan you get and how well you use it, you could be getting a really bum deal. Don’t buy the block plans, and don’t buy the 7 meals per week plan. Do the math, and you will see how both are terrible deals.</p>
<p>Example: 125 block meal plan (AKA: The cheapest meal plan)</p>
<p>125 meals, 1600 dollars, 300 flex bucks.</p>
<p>Subtract 300 from 1600, and you get 1300… 125 meals for 1300 dollars. That comes to 10.40 per meal. Makes me shake my head. Either the folks at Aramark suck at math, or they’re trying to pinch pennies of the people that don’t want to pay too much for their “required” meal plan. I’ll go with the latter.</p>
<p>You are paying for convenience as well as food. You are paying for the food itself, the preparation of the food, and the fact that you can walk to get it. You are saving gas, you are saving time. During exams, you do not have to worry about shopping for food, preparing food, getting to the grocery. You do not have to worry about getting to the fast food joint or restaurant. You do not have to worry about finding a parking place when you get back, circling around 5 times or driving to another parking garage. All of that is money. Time is money. There is more that the cost of food factored into a meal plan. That is assuming one even has a car. Using the bus line to replace a mean plan is even more of a hassle. </p>
<p>One had to keep these issues in mind when making a decision. And for a student who eats a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean chicken, milk and fruit juice and not junk food, the cost of purchasing food is quite a bit more. Yet you can find all of this at Fresh Food or Suwanee.</p>
<p>True, time is money and, considering the variety and choice, I don’t necessarily think the meals are overpriced. However, I think Matt is railing against the fact that they actually charge a premium on each meal for the “privilege” of purchasing a meal plan as opposed to simply purchasing the meals a la carte. I absolutely want my kids to eat at the dining hall at least once every day (to ensure that they are exposed to the fruit and vegetables), but I will give them garnet bucks instead of purchasing a plan.</p>
<p>Not sure if you were responding to me or not, but if so, you missed my point.</p>
<p>You can buy meals individually at these places for less money than if you had particular meal plans. I showed the math several months ago in a thread proving that both block plans and the 7 meals per week plan are BAD deals, and depending how you use it, the 10 meals per week plan can be a bad deal as well. It’s simple math, and how no one has called them out on it is mind boggling… but they get away with it easily because of all the people that are FORCED into buying meal plans.</p>
<p>Your choices are either:</p>
<p>A. Pay a hell of a lot for a mealplan that you don’t really want (IE: 14 meals per week or all access), OR</p>
<p>B. Pay less, but get a terrible deal.</p>
<p>Scam. Aramark should be ashamed, and I will continue to expose this atrocity anytime it is brought up by a potential customer. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the Aramark company. :D</p>
<p>Edit: LTG nailed it.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064787686-post35.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064787686-post35.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064800520-post41.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064800520-post41.html</a></p>
<p>I think I’m getting garnet bucks instead of meal plan. I figured I’d probably actually be on campus about 100 days fall term after taking off for Thanksgiving holiday and maybe say 2 weekends off campus. The meal plan is $2000 when you add in $50 extra handling fee. I’m maybe going to get a few hundred dollars of garnet bucks and see how it goes, I’ll get more garnet bucks as I need them. I’m not going to starve and I actually like the dining hall food, but not 3 meals a day 7 days a week. My dorm doesn’t require meal plan, but I do plan to eat in dining halls a lot.</p>
<p>There’s a 50 dollar handling fee too? LOL</p>
<p>Legalized Theft: We are… ARAMARK!</p>
<p><em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Aramark used to do the food service for the Florida state prisons too. Maybe Aramark got some locked up disbarred attorneys to do their contracts! The way I read Aramark’s agreement, students who pay in installments or who pay from deferred financial aid get charged an extra $50 handling fee. If I read it wrong please somebody let me know.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.campusdish.com/NR/rdonlyres/BD8D4D90-329D-4B26-B365-8AA67C273B7E/0/termsandconditions2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.campusdish.com/NR/rdonlyres/BD8D4D90-329D-4B26-B365-8AA67C273B7E/0/termsandconditions2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>Nope, you read that right. I always paid in a one time installment.</p>
<p>I still don’t know how nobody with authority has looked over the pricing on these mealplans and realized what a scam they are (especially since they just raised the prices).</p>
<p>Sorry for the extra post, but I stand corrected. I noticed today that Suwannee has raised their dinner price… 10.99. And they claim you get a 50 cent discount for using flex or garnet bucks, so the prices are:</p>
<p>Breakfast: 6.49
Lunch: 7.49
Dinner: 10.49</p>
<p>So actually, if you purchase the 125 meal block plan and use them ONLY for dinner, you will save 8 cents a meal, for a total of 10 dollars… lucky you.</p>
<p>No comment on the increased dinner price.</p>
<p>^^
What do you suggest? Just buying garnet bucks?? I mean we’ve got to eat…and I’m not cooking, so that doesn’t leave many choices. We’re paying for the convenience.</p>
<p>I think the point is, you can still buy food in these areas without having a meal plan, and as Matt125 showed above you’re saving money by not having a meal plan (when it comes to breakfast and lunch). I know personally, I don’t mind doing a little math and being “inconvienced” if it means I will save 15+ dollars a week.</p>
<p>I suggest NOT getting the 7 meals per week or either block plan. With the increase in door price for dinner, 10 meals per week and 14 meals per week are fair deals.</p>
<p>I do find it very interesting that they raised their prices in this economy despite not improving or even changing their product. They have a monopoly, and they know it.</p>
<p>“They have a monopoly, and they know it.” </p>
<p>Well yes, we’re a captive audience, but again this is about convenience. Tuition hasn’t dropped in this economy has it?</p>
<p>Any idea if garnet bucks/flex bucks are dollar for dollar? i.e., you buy a Starbucks coffee for $3 and it costs 3 garnet/flex bucks - is that how it works?</p>
<p>Do as you wish then. </p>
<p>Yes, garnet/flex bucks are dollar for dollar with the exception of the meal plan places, where you get a 50 cent discount for using flex/garnet.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to pick given what I have to work with - I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time. </p>
<p>The weekly meal plans seems the best bet, since I’ll probably be using flex bucks on the weekend and eating at least 1 meal a day on weekdays (a couple of days I’ll eat 2 meals because they’re my early days) - so I think the “weekly 7 with 500 flex bucks” might be better for the flexability. </p>
<p>If I were someone who ate a great deal, I might be really disappointed at the limited and repetitive menus. Personally, I wasn’t impressed with the food at either food hall, so I’ll be eating a lot of salads. I have to wonder what students with diabetes and those with dairy or food allergies do.</p>
<p>If you look at the “weekly 10 with 400 flex bucks” vs. the “150 block with 300 flex bucks” both work out to 10 meals a week, but for an additional $20 in the price you get an extra 100 flex bucks with the “weekly 10”. I prefer the flex bucks (or garnet bucks) over the limitation of eating in the hall.</p>
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