<p>I don’t think that the purchase of Garnet Bucks satisfies the demand for a mandatory meal plan.</p>
<p>My son is starting Cawthon this fall and no, Garnet Bucks do not satisfy the mandatory meal plan. We signed him up while we were at orientation.</p>
<p>We figured we’d just swallow hard and sign him up for his freshman year till we/he figures out how he really eats, what his tendencies are and where he intends to live next year. Then we’ll make adjustments accordingly. If he stays at Cawthon for the following year, I guess the decision will me made for us then as well.</p>
<p>Ok, so the top meal plan (premium) is just silly because you literally pay $200 more for $150 in Flexbucks (someone was snoozing on that one). But the other plans range from $1900 to $2150. All the plans are way too expensive, but in the grand scheme of things, since his housing selection forces us into it, which plan really doesn’t matter. It’s the difference of $250. That’s a textbook or two. If the mandatory plans ranged from $1500 to $2150, I’d have to put on my thinking cap. As it stands it really doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>I mean look at the prices. 150 block for $1900. For $25 more you get 25 more meals (175 block)? Bottom line is they pulled a number our of their rears and said “we think the most we’ll get is $2k per student before there’s a mutiny”. Then they messed with different plan structures around that price point (and didn’t do a very good job at it for that matter). If the pricing structures had ANYTHING to do with cost per meal, a 150 block plan would have to be a minimum of 25-30% less expensive than an all access plan even when you factor in incentives.</p>
<p>If the school ran the food services, it would be a single “meal plan” price with a lower tier for upper class-men and then volume discounts for meals bought in blocks for those who didn’t purchase a plan. The minute you farm out food services (which most now do for insurance purposes) all the rules change. They should however at least make it look like they knew what they were talking about rather than advertising something that literally says “give us $200 more and we’ll give you $150 more flex bucks”. That just makes them look foolish.</p>
<p>Dang! all this research and we are still stuck w/ a ridiculous meal plan (D is also in Cawthorn!)…so for $25 more she’ll get the 175 block @ 2 meals a day for 16 weeks + extra 15 meals + ‘flexBucks’ it looks like the best option…thanks for all the input!</p>
<p>Is there any way to break the contract before school begins?</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get out of a contract unless there’s certain circumstances. I think that you might be able to “Get out” of the contract in that there is a way to get it turned into simply the meal plan’s value in all FlexBucks. However, I’m pretty sure that to get that, you have to be living in a non-mandatory dorm, among other circumstances (and I honestly only recall that being the case for Spring semester, not Fall).
The only other way you can “get out” of a contract to my knowledge is if your child is moving into a Frat/Sorority that also requires a meal plan, and then you simply get to buy a lesser meal plan (I don’t know the details about said meal plan, however). </p>
<p>It is, to my knowledge, somewhat difficult to get out of a meal plan- if you even can. You’re contractually obligated for both Fall and Spring when you submit your paperwork for one, which is why it’s advised that if you’re on the fence and not required to get one, that you wait if at all possible. Aramark knows you’re contractually bound to have a meal plan for both semesters too.</p>
<p>For those who utilize GarnetBucks- This semester’s discount offer is now in effect until October 14th.</p>
<p>Purchases between $300 and $700 will qualify for discounts of between 10 & 12%, depending on amount.</p>
<p>[Fuel</a> Up for Fall!](<a href=“http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=dmbcltcab&v=001T4YSeKItteXcb0_cPh0WwMqqlTvrn4BnxXYMCKF-Gk4fth5VSuorQPtlS9es8ddD3MxViOPZrg5afgy0zxnDLDIx9RFb6LFEFB18KXtFrLX82U9aauidwg%3D%3D]Fuel”>http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=dmbcltcab&v=001T4YSeKItteXcb0_cPh0WwMqqlTvrn4BnxXYMCKF-Gk4fth5VSuorQPtlS9es8ddD3MxViOPZrg5afgy0zxnDLDIx9RFb6LFEFB18KXtFrLX82U9aauidwg%3D%3D)</p>
<p>Here’s the details about said promotion (it actually looks better than the other recent promotions they’ve done, given that other promotions didn’t add an extra 1-2% bonus above $300):</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Still though, the difference in bonuses in buying $300 in GarnetBucks and $700 GarnetBucks is only a few bucks at best. For an extra $400, you get what would be an extra $14 in bonuses. Yippee. </p>
<p>If you would use all $700 in GarnetBucks, and can afford that, then that’s clearly the way to go over just buying $300 now, and then $400 later, since you’d lose out on some bonus bucks. Aside from that though, there’s really not much reason to spend the extra $400, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Matt125, did you ever get any answers from Seminole Dining?</p>
<p>So before I read this I was 100% sure that I was going to get a meal plan but now I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>My family NEVER cooks, I mean never, and I’ve been duel enrolled for over a year now so I eat fast food for lunch everyday (like Mcdonalds, Chick Fil A, or Taco Bell). And I’m also not into the idea of cooking.</p>
<p>I’m not a heavy eater and would be fine eating only two meals a day but I’d prefer to get away from fast food (I thought the dinning hall food from USF was great).</p>
<p>SO could I live off of Garnett bucks? And if so, how many would be a good amount?</p>
<p>For those that were waiting to see how the Fall semester went before possibly getting a meal plan (and I highly recommend that you avoid them, if you are not forced into getting one!), it seems that the nice Seminole Dining crew has come up with another confusing meal plan:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So basically, you get 1 meal a day ($7, anyway) at one of the Union locations or Denny’s, plus the standard M-F all you can eat plan. </p>
<p>It’s not horrible for the price, but the lack of FlexBucks is certainly interesting.</p>
<p>So what’s the latest word on meal plans?</p>
<p>I’m a new graduate student at FSU. From reading through threads on the forum regarding meal plans, it seems that prices have come down a <em>lot</em> from what they once were:</p>
<p>Breakfast: $6
Lunch: $7
Dinner: $7</p>
<p>That seems pretty dang reasonable to me - or am I missing something?</p>
<p>Also, they have 2 new (I think) block plans:</p>
<p>Tomahawk Block 90: 90 meals @ $5.28 per meal + 100 FlexBUCKS = $575
Tomahawk Block 75: 75 meals @ $5.99 per meal + 100 FlexBUCKS = $549</p>
<p>I live off campus and am not required to have a meal plan but am seriously thinking about the Block 90. $5.28 for all-I-can-eat meals sounds great to me, particularly because I can get lots of fresh fruit and vegetables/salads which I won’t have to prepare myself or worry about spoiling in my fridge.</p>
<p>Is there anything I should be aware of before signing up?</p>
<p>That’s not horrible, but honestly, if you live off campus, 90 meals is basically 1 meal a day, every M-F during the semester. There’s something like 117 days or some random number including weekends in a typical semester where the dining halls are open. If you live off campus, and aren’t going to be on campus during the weekend, you would need to use 1 meal a day on average. </p>
<p>The big thing you need to be aware of is that if you buy for Fall, you have to buy for Spring. So if halfway through the semester you aren’t using up your meal plan, you still have to buy one for the Spring. </p>
<p>Also, unless things have changed, the salad bar area is going to get really old, really quick. It’s pretty boring and not all that great quality wise. </p>
<p>You’re right though, meal plan prices appear to have come down significantly. That and the hours changes at a lot of places (Denny’s going back to 24 hrs, etc) makes me wonder if the Seminole Dining people got a lot of bad feedback/backlash last year over a number of their idiotic changes, and they finally relented a bit. </p>
<p>I haven’t paid any attention to the meal plans this year but it’s nice to see that they are actually coming up with somewhat cheaper options.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply, Pasbal.</p>
<p>I agree - they must have received quite a bit of pressure because it looks like prices have come down significantly compared to what I’ve read about on this forum.</p>
<p>I realize that with the block 90 plan I’d be eating, on average, once a day from M-F. That wouldn’t be a problem since I’d probably eat twice a day some days and none on others.</p>
<p>Here’s another question that maybe you can address: do you often see grad students or even staff/faculty (i.e., people not in their early 20s) at the dining halls? I’m a grad student (PhD) and look a bit older. I’m a bit concerned that I might stick out like a sore thumb at the dining halls, which I’m guessing are undergrad-dominated since they are mandatory for the residences. I’d hate to feel like some creepy old person crashing the undergrad’s residences every time I walked into the dining hall.</p>
<p>I don’t really use the dining halls (haven’t been now in over 2 years) so I can’t say how it’s been recently, but they are basically a typical buffet restaurant, and anyone can eat there.</p>
<p>Plenty of people that don’t seem to fit the 18-21 college student mold eat there. And trust me, no one will care why you’re there. They want food just as much as you do, and they don’t care, so long as you aren’t taking food off their plates.</p>
<p>Funny that the while this year’s per-meal cash price for dinner has gone down significantly, the meal plan prices have not. They are still $1805 - $2349.</p>
<p>The only plans that aren’t a total ripoff this year are for people living in on-campus apartments and off campus only.</p>
<p>Not to mention that you pay full value for FlexBucks as well.</p>
<p>The 7 Day Silver plan is $1999 with $150 in FlexBucks… so basically $1849 + flex
The 7 Day Gold plan is $2149 with $300 in FlexBucks… so basically $1849 + flex
The 7 Day Platinum plan is $2349 with $500 in FlexBucks so basically $1849 + flex</p>
<p>The Osceola 14 and the 5 Day Access plans are just absolute ripoffs. For an extra $150 over the 5 Day Access, you get the 7 Day Silver plan which includes $150 FlexBucks, but is also unlimited 7 days a week, not just 5. I’m not going to count the “free meal” thing on the 5 Day plan as worth much, so it’s a terrible value. </p>
<p>You’re right, the only plans that aren’t a complete ripoff are the commuter ones. Pretty sad. At least though people that are capable of cooking for themselves aren’t getting fleeced too badly if they just want a cheap meal plan that’d let them eat on campus for cheap…</p>
<p>The 90 Block plan is basically $510 plus $100 FlexBucks for a $610 total.
The 75 Block plan is basically $482 plus $100 FlexBucks for a $582 total.</p>
<p>Not horrible, but if the per-meal prices are significantly reduced this year, if you aren’t going to use every meal, you almost might as well just pay as you go…</p>
<p>At least the block plans (only available to people with their own kitchens) give about a 25% discount on lunch and dinner prices, and 12% off of breakfast. That’s the first time in 4 years I’ve seen ANY block meal plan actually work out to a discounted per-meal price. </p>
<p>The unadvertised Sorority Meal Plan is not discounted at all, it’s $875 (not including tax); $700 for 100 meals, plus $175 in Flex Bucks. So every time you use a meal for breakfast ($6 each meal) you are LOSING $1! If you use every one of your 100 meals for lunch or dinner, you break even, only IF you manage to use up all of your Flex Bucks. While 100 meals might not seem hard to use up in a 15 week semester, keep in mind that the sororities include between 10 and 15 meals each week in their dues. At least the sorority girls in mandatory meal plan halls only have to buy 100 meals, instead of the $1800+ meal plans. Ridiculous options, IMO, how much do they expect a girl to eat?</p>
<p>Wow… it seems dining on campus has become a LOT more reasonable. Maybe they read this thread! Or they were waiting for their biggest critic to graduate.</p>
<p>Looks like paying as you go still tends to be the best bet, but can’t really argue with those prices. I’ll still never understand the full-priced flex bucks. Anyone with college level intelligence will not pay $150 extra just to receive $150 in Seminole Dining credit that expires in a year. $6-$7 for an all you can eat meal is a great deal, especially compared to what it was. Did food quality drop at all?</p>
<p>Matt, haven’t seen you around lately. Did you ever post Aramark’s reply to your questions? I never found it. I was looking forward to reading how they would defend their logic.</p>
<p>The new commuter plans are much better, but unfortunately, they are not available to most people. The mandatory meal plan halls and standard dorms still can only choose from the overpriced plans. And as I said in my prior post, the Sorority Meal Plan can never be a good deal, the best you can hope for is to break even.</p>
<p>As far as the quality, I don’t eat there much, but I would say that the few times I have eaten there this year and last, I was disappointed. The food was definitely better my first year on campus.</p>
<p>They thanked me for my feedback and told me they wanted to arrange a meeting with me. Unfortunately I wasn’t anywhere near Tallahassee that Summer (was interning in NY), so couldn’t meet with them. I tried emailing them again in the Fall Semester to have that meeting and never heard back. At least I know it was acknowledged and read by someone relatively high up the Seminole Dining latter.</p>
<p>I assume this year’s price reduction has more to do with FSU than Aramark, but good to see. It’s a lot more fair now, though the on campus plans still look like ripoffs.</p>