<p>My daughter is going to orientation tomorrow and after reviewing her itinerary, I realized she will need to pick her meal plan while there. Perhaps I have overlooked a thread on CC discussing the best option for certain types of eaters...but darned if I could find it. Would anyone be able to give examples of what type of eater(s) might be a good fit for each of the 4 freshman dining options? I'm finding it to be a little confusing without knowing what most kids do. </p>
<p>If it helps, my daughter is not a picky eater (most of the time), is more about the conveninence, and would be happy enough to eat just a breakfast bar on the way to class each day. Would probably also like the variety of being able to go to the eateries and swipe in the LBC and off campus as time permits. What would you suggest?</p>
<p>I guess what has me a little perplexed is since the price tag seems to be the same, why wouldn’t you pick the Carte Blanche +325 over the Flex 350? Seems like a better deal since it’s unlimited, minus the $25 fewer Wavebucks…</p>
<p>We are going to orientation later in the week and I came to the same conclusion. Not sure why there are so many choices when they don’t seem to be that different and really aren’t different when it comes to price. It would make more sense to have options that are different prices so those who don’t eat as much don’t end up paying as much. That was always my problem in college but there were choices for light eaters. My son would probably do just fine eating only in the food court but since that is not one of the options, I think we will choose the Carte Blanche + 325.</p>
<p>My D is not so much into the fast food/food court scene and will probably be fine with mostly Bruff but would be interested in more meals off campus potentially. The other Carte Blanche + plan is $200 less so we were thinking of putting that $200 towards her NOLA bucks since it might be good to have that extra play money for ordering out or going to Camelia’s once in a while… Still trying to figure it all out but she can’t really even ask an upperclassman since the plans are all new this year.</p>
<p>The rules say that you can’t add NOLA bucks to a plan that does not include them so that may not work. But she could just use the extra $200 for eating out herself.</p>
<p>I thought $25 NOLA Bucks were included in all 4 freshman plans…but I see now that they are not is the Carte Blanche +100 plan. Thanks for pointing that out. So even with the +325 plan seems like it gives her more opportunity to go in to swipe for just an apple or a drink if need be and she’d get about the same Wavebucks. Seems like a no brainer since there is no cost savings in going for one plan vs another. Why wouldn’t you do the Carte Blanche +325 plan? Still trying to figure out if there are any negatives…</p>
<p>The only negative would be if you don’t use up the Wavebucks at the end of the year, you lose them. My S ended up signing up for the Carte Blanche plus 100 at orientation. He did not like the food court after all and this way we can add money in 100 dollar increments as he needs to. Not sure where the NOLA bucks can be used yet anyway so not too concerned about it yet. He thinks he likes Bruff but that will probably change.</p>
<p>We (parents and kids) were fed breakfast at Bruff at Orientation and I may have gained 5 lbs from that one meal alone! Maybe that’s not a good thing, but the food was great. Fresh fruit, eggs, sausage. hot and cold cereal, muffins galore. Don’t know if this was a special menu for orientation though.</p>
<p>Last year my daughter purchased the Carte Blanche +100. In the beginning of the year she ate mostly in Bruff. As the year progressed she got tired of Bruff and preferred eating occasional meals at the LBC food court. Towards the end of the year she ran out of flex dollars, but two friends had extra dollars they let her use. Their dollars would have expired at the end of the year. </p>
<p>This year my daughter selected one of the new flex plans. I think maybe the flex $625. With this plan she has more dollars to spend outside of Bruff, and less set meals at Bruff. As for a new freshman it is hard to say which plan may work best. It depends on whether they like eating at Bruff, or would prefer to eat more meals other than Bruff. You can always add dollars on to the Carte Blanche plans that come with extra to start with. I do see many students tire of eating at Bruff and would prefer to eat elsewhere as the year progresses.</p>
<p>Many of the meal plans for next year are new, so we will have to wait and see how they work for the students as the year progresses.</p>
<p>It’s the same as eating at Bruff, from what I hear. I mean the plan, not the food. I think you can eat at Loyola as many times as you can at Bruff. I have also heard the food is better in some aspects, although my D has not tried it yet, so no first hand accounts.</p>
<p>My daughter tried Loyola a few times this past year and said she thought it was better than Bruff. I think that no matter where you eat, if it is on a regular basis you will grow tired of the food/selection. My daughter was looking for more variety for next year and chose one of the flex plans. I think it was flex700, with $625 flex dollars, less set meals at Bruff, and some Nola money.</p>