<p>Which Meal plan should I get? I am a guy and I like food but which is the best option? what is better dining passes or dollars?</p>
<p>My son (a Freshman who I would say is an average eater in terms of amounts of food) had gone with Tier 2 Plan C: 125 Passes with $600 Dining Dollars $1,865 this year. He ran out of dining dollars and just barely used up all his swipes. There are so many options to eat outside the dining halls and remember a swipe is about $10… So if you just want a light meal, it doesn’t make sense to use a swipe, but instead use dining dollars at another place. My DS LOVES CHIPOLTLE (his only really bad habit) 
so he went there once a week.
Next year he’s going with Plan D: 100 Passes with $785 Dining Dollars $1,865…remember you can add dining dollars if you need them, but you can’t reduce the number of passes if you don’t use them.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>@TitanMom
Chipotle is included in dining dollars? That will alter my decision! I love chipotle.</p>
<p>Actually…you have to use Panther funds at Chipotle. So save your pennies and start a Chipotle fund and put the money on your Panther card. Dining dollars are good at any actual Pitt sponsored eatery. It does get a bit confusion between the two. You just have to check your balances every week or so and even more towards the end of a semester. This link has FAQ’s on the Panther Card in general.
[Panther</a> Card FAQ](<a href=“http://www.pc.pitt.edu/card/faq.html]Panther”>http://www.pc.pitt.edu/card/faq.html)</p>
<p>Dining dollars can be used at Taco Bell (it’s in the Towers basement, so if you live in Towers you don’t even have to leave the building to eat there), but not Chipotle.</p>
<p>Dining dollars are definitely better than the passes. The passes you can only use to eat at the dining hall, while dining dollars can be used for that as well, in addition to the places in the Schenley Cafe (which includes Pizza Hut, Sub Connection, etc.) Definitely get a meal plan with more dining dollars than passes.</p>
<p>The plans TitanMom suggested sound good. I had Tier 2 C last year and found I had extra dining passes…Tier 2 D would have been perfect. More DDs are good to have because there are more options, and it’s pretty easy to get tired of Market.</p>
<p>I always went with the lowest tier- most DD least passes. (like $900 DD and 75 or 50 passes?). When I’m running around campus during the day I’d rather pick up a quick lunch somewhere and then sit down for dinner at night. And for those busy nights, I can grab food and eat/work somewhere instead of being forced into Market Central.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that the price of a swipe increases as the # of swipes purchased decreases; Tier 1 A runs $9.08 per swipe and Tier 1 E runs $10.44 per swipe. (Tier 2 E goes all the way up to $12.26 per swipe!) I guess they give a little discount for buying their swipes in bulk…</p>
<p>If you do run out of swipes and have to pay for a meal at market central with DD’s or panther funds, what is the charge? Is it a fixed $10?</p>
<p>You can use dining dollars or Panther Funds to pay for a swipe at the dining hall. The cost depends on the time of the day. Breakfast is something like $5.99 for a swipe, lunch or dinner is like $7.99… these may not be the exact rates, I’m just going off of memory. But it’s definitely less than $10 at any time, which is why again it’s advisable to get more dining dollars than meal swipes. If you run out of swipes and dollars then you can simply buy more swipes/dollars, upload Panther Funds, or pay with cash.</p>
<p>Also, you will always have friends who have bought too many swipes, they can swipe you in with their swipes!</p>
<p>Holy robbery! So the same breakfast that costs $5.99 in cash or dining dollars will cost $10 -$12 if you use a pass??? (based on tier 2 plan C,D,E) I completely agree about buying the fewest amount of passes, but what stinks about that is that every pass then costs you $15.90! (Tier 3 plan D). Wish they had a no-pass plan…</p>
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<p>They do. It’s for upperclassmen (sophomores and higher) only. Freshman get ripped off.</p>
<p>How much is it to buy a meal from market without a pass and just using dining dollars?</p>
<p>@Mferaco…see response #9 above. Your question is answered.</p>
<p>Thank you very much, I just wanted a double check on those prices</p>
<p>Passes are a waste of money: First of all there is no way to tell in the panther
usage center how many Passes are even being used they only show Panther funds, your money that you deposited and Dining dollars I was told there is no way to keep track of dining Passes being used by the school and if you don’t tell Market central specifically to take it out of the passes part of the panther card they can take it out of the dining dollars side of it instead. To me this sounds like all your dining dollars and panther funds part of the card gets used first and thats why kids are left with so many passes at the end of the semester because they not being accepted properly by a cafeteria cashier that doesn’t care what part of your cards funds are being used. I can’t believe some of the financial students at Pitt don’t address this issue and I’m just an average joe that figured this out.
For Pitt to say they can’t keep track of Food Pass usage and only dining dollar and Panther fund usage sounds very underhanded and sly. It’s a school of science yet they can’t figure out this simple flaw in the Panther card system I would always suggest get the smallest passes
the smallest of dining dollars and send money in another way to your child until Pitt figures out a way to smooth this bump in the system.
they must think we are all stupid to think they can hide this fact.As a parent that pays for my childs education I take it personally</p>
<p>You have to go to mypitt use password and email name then click on Panther central after it goes through click on dining not housing . Then click Panther funds usage report and it will show the usage of Panther funds (extra cash) or dining dollars( to be used in or outside of market central) but not Dining Pass Usage which Pitt claims they cannot keep
track of .There is a name given on the website that you can contact through Market central a lady is in charge. If you have a complaint. Personally i think everyone should be complaining about such a lame system.
Another thing is if your child has late classes and hasn’t eaten till like 8:30 or so the only thing they can really eat good that late at the cafeterias is like a waffle they make themselves. Everything else is old and dried up and the Pizza lady retires way before closing Oh she’s there but the pizza’s are not. Whose gonna ask before closing… will you make me a pizza Pizza lady. They should at least have a pizza sitting out for a quick meal. Talk to your child. Find out where your moneys going or not going. Oh yeah and I figured its 13 dollars a meal that’s an expensive waffle … Sept 2012</p>
<p>My son just told me exactly how many passes he has left. I think they may get a receipt when they swipe their panther card, or the cashier tells him, or he asked. </p>
<p>I did the math before he started pitt this fall and figured that each pass costs about $12. ( We went with $950 DD’s and 75 passes or about that - can’t remember the exact numbers). That is why I told him to look at what he’s selected before he cashes out, and if he doesn’t think it’s worth $12, then use DD’s. (He only uses the passes for a big dinner).</p>
<p>So far, it’s working out just fine. He uses DD’s most of the time, and just tells the cashier when she rings him out.</p>
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<p>You’re supposed to get a receipt but the number will also flash on the register right after your card is swiped (you can also ask them to tell you when they swipe your card). I <em>think</em> you might also be able to look up the number online through dining services on my.pitt…but I’m not sure.</p>
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<p>I don’t know if your S told you this, but you swipe BEFORE you eat, not after. So, unless he knows what he’s going to eat ahead of time, there’s no way for him to predict how much food he will get when he swipes into Market. That’s why Market is an open dining hall- you pay a “pass” to get inside and eat whatever you want for as long as you want while you are there. I guess you could know upfront to use a pass vs. DD if you know you are going in for a full meal or if you just want cereal or something.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying awesome - that is what my son does. He only uses a pass for big dinners when he knows he’s going to eat alot. Everything else is DD’s throughout campus with the occasional use of panther funds (chipotle), and cash ($5 food trucks).</p>