meal plan

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
1

<p>It has been several days, but I still cannot decide on my meal plan! So I really need help. And the deadline is May 15 ><</p>

<p>I‘m an oncoming student and choose live on campus, including weekends. I just narrowed down my choices to 14 and 14p, maybe 19, if you guys think it is better.</p>

<p>There are two things I don't really get it.
1) For 14p, if I swipe 3 times during one designated meal period, then it counts as 1 or counts as 3?</p>

<p>2) I usually have 21 meals per week at home, how can one only have 14 swipes per week? How about the other 7 meals? How do you usually spend these 14 swipes? Let's say, if I already swiped 14 times, but still want food. Can I pay cash in dining halls and restaurants and any other markets at school (is there any)?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>1) For 14p, if I swipe 3 times during one designated meal period, then it counts as 1 or counts as 3?
Three. I have never heard of anybody swiping multiple times per meal period for entry into a dining hall. The dining halls are all-that-you-can-eat, so there is not much need to go more than once if you get your full the first time. It is common to swipe multiple times at the quick-service cafes, such as Bruin Cafe, Rendezvous, and Cafe 1919 during one meal period. I do that all the time if I want multiple menu items.</p>

<p>2) I usually have 21 meals per week at home, how can one only have 14 swipes per week? How about the other 7 meals? How do you usually spend these 14 swipes? Let’s say, if I already swiped 14 times, but still want food. Can I pay cash in dining halls and restaurants and any other markets at school (is there any)?
14 meal plans really are designed for those that go home, I believe. 19 is designed for 3 meals during the weekdays, and 2 meals each day of the weekend (weekend hours only really have two meal periods–brunch and dinner). A premier meal plan is much more flexible if you want to swipe whenever you want and not be restricted by the meal period hours.</p>

<p>I usually do not eat breakfast, and rarely lunch, at the dining halls/cafes. I can’t wake up early enough, or do not have the enthusiasm to walk back to the dorms when I have things to do on campus, so I stock up on my 14P meal plan.</p>

<p>If you have a premier meal plan, and you have already swiped 14 times in one week, you can continue swiping. A premier meal plan is distributed at the beginning of the quarter. You will receive (I roughly estimate) 150 meal swipes at the beginning of the quarter for 14P, and you can swipe them whenever you want, no restrictions. It is only the non-premier meal plan that expires at the end of the week.</p>

<p>If you want to swipe in for a meal without using a meal plan, I do not believe you can do it with cash. Instead, you would deposit money onto your Bruincard (either EasyPay or food only) and use its debit feature for the dining halls and cafes. It might be a bit annoying that you can’t use cash up front, but you have to first deposit it onto your Bruincard.</p>

<p>On campus we have multiple coffee shops (with bagels, salads, sandwiches); we have a Subway sandwich shop, a Yoshinoya Beef Bowl shop, a Carls Jr., Taco Bell, Panda Express, the list kinda goes on. Ralphs supermarket is also just across the street to the southernmost part of campus. You can use cash here or use your Bruincard’s debit function. </p>

<p>Info on debit function:
<a href=“https://secure.bruincard.ucla.edu/bcw/web/Home.aspx[/url]”>https://secure.bruincard.ucla.edu/bcw/web/Home.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You might also want to look into the meal coupons here (I’ve never tried it myself before):
[Special</a> Services & Programs (1000914)](<a href=“http://map.ais.ucla.edu/portal/site/UCLA/menuitem.789d0eb6c76e7ef0d66b02ddf848344a/?vgnextoid=d742064a9a7d1010VgnVCM1000008f8443a4RCRD]Special”>http://map.ais.ucla.edu/portal/site/UCLA/menuitem.789d0eb6c76e7ef0d66b02ddf848344a/?vgnextoid=d742064a9a7d1010VgnVCM1000008f8443a4RCRD)</p>

<p>For a list of ASUCLA restaurants, look here (does not include Carls Jr, Taco Bel, Subway, or Yoshinoya, but instead are the restaurants owned/ran by Associated Students UCLA):
[UCLA</a> Restaurants](<a href=“http://www.asucla.ucla.edu/restaurants/index.asp]UCLA”>http://www.asucla.ucla.edu/restaurants/index.asp)</p>

<p>Glad to help.</p>

<p>SUMMARY

  • Premier meal plans give you all of your swipes at the beginning of the quarter.
  • Each entry into the dining hall counts as one swipe.
  • Each menu item at the quick-service cafes count as one swipe (but usually come with a drink and a small side (chips or fruits))
  • Premier meal plan allows you to swipe whenever you want.
  • Student life is not always so flexible; students sometimes skip meals
  • I think 19 “regular” is cheaper than 14Premier; I recommend 19 regular if you have a good eating schedule, and 14premier if you like flexibility
  • There are options to eat at other places on campus</p>
3

<p>Clarification: you can use debit function at campus restaurants, but not Ralphs.</p>

4

<p>Thank you sooooo much phospholipase! Your answers really gave me huge help:) I take your advice and decide 14p, because I like flexibility. </p>

<p>Two more questions, sorry if I have too many questions ><
1)You said you stock up on your 14p meal plan, do you think it is worth paying more money? And usually, would some swipes be wasted at the end of quarter?</p>

<p>2)Are we allowed to degrade or upgrade our meal plan? Somebody told me we are only allowed to upgrade, but no degrade. And are the fee the same, both $25?</p>

<p>Thank you again:)</p>

5

<p>Holy *****…there are meal coupons available??? I never knew that. I kept hauling my lazy ass up that hill just for lunch, only to go back down a hill and up another one. 4 weeks left though… oh well. I’m in a university apartment next year.</p>

6

<p>**
1)You said you stock up on your 14p meal plan, do you think it is worth paying more money? And usually, would some swipes be wasted at the end of quarter?**
I think that it’s fun to be able to order many items at once (for example, a sandwich at Bruin Cafe, a smoothie at Bruin Cafe, a pizzette at Cafe 1919, and a sorbet at 1919), but the novelty wears off. For me, the Premier meal plan can be justified because I like treating some of my off-campus friends to lunch sometimes, and I like ordering truckloads of food at one time. But if you don’t plan on doing any of those things, then the Premier part might be a waste of money.</p>

<p>Yes, swipes would be wasted at the end of the quarter. There are some things that UCLA Dining Services does to help you use up all of your swipes. At the end of the quarter, Bruin Cafe will let you use (I estimate) 12 swipes to get a case of Gatorade or soda. The conversion ratio is horrible (you use up a lot of swipes to get a relatively inexpensive case of 24 Pepi drinks), but it is a way to use up your leftover swipes at the end. </p>

<p>Some people also treat their floor to a pizza party if they have leftover swipes. Pizza can be ordered at De Neve Late Nite (open 9PM - 12PM), each for 4 swipes. They also have other foods like chicken wings (Chipotle, Barbeque, and Buffalo flavors), burgers, milkshakes, chili cheese fries… and more). If you like to eat, then you don’t have to worry about having leftover swipes (if you do, it’s very likely that some of your friends have run out, and you can swipes them if you like).</p>

<p>I’d also like to write a little blurp about the “regular,” non-premier meal plans in relation to De Neve Late Nite. Non-premier meal plans expire at the end of Sunday nights. That is, if you have 14 regular or 19 regular, any leftover swipes will be gone at the end of the week. Additionally, you are only allowed to swipe once per meal period. But there’s an exception when you swipe at De Neve Late Nite. You can swipe multiple times there. That is one of the reasons why the line at Late Nite on Sundays are usually much longer than any other night–the non-premier meal plan holders use up all of their swipes at the end of the week here.</p>

<p>2)Are we allowed to degrade or upgrade our meal plan? Somebody told me we are only allowed to upgrade, but no degrade. And are the fee the same, both $25?
Yes, I am pretty sure that you can both upgrade or downgrade your meal plan for $25.
It’s outlined in the first section on this page
[Meal</a> Plans (1001859)](<a href=“http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1001859]Meal”>http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1001859)</p>