<p>So I was just browsing through the UB website, and I see that all freshmen are assigned the UB gold plan but can change to the silver or bronze plan. I will be living at UB, and will probably only go home during the breaks. Is the UB gold plan REALLY necessary, or is the silver or bronze plan enough? I know the website states that the silver and bronze plans are for those with lighter appetites and go home on the weekends time to time, but is that really true through your experience? I think its okay to assume that UB would want everyone to pay for the gold plan since its the most expensive. I just want some insight from you guys because I don't want to pay too much for a plan which I could have done without. Thanks everyone 8)</p>
<p>It really depends on your appetite and eating habits! Look carefully at the dining info you got in your Be Ready Orientation kit. The meal plan structure has changed, I’m pretty sure, for next year. I think the Gold and Silver are roughly equivalent, but it depends on what you think you’ll need. There’s a cost difference of $150/semester between gold and silver. Gold gives you 19 meals/week - weekday lunches are at restaurants/snack bars on campus (up to $6.75/meal, which should be adequate from what I’ve seen). Breakfast/brunch or dinner is at the res. hall or by meal equivalency, which I’ve heard is a lower amount. Gold also gives you the $35 UB card insurance and extras package and $25 in Campus cash to spend anywhere and $200 Dining Dollars.</p>
<p>Silver is breakfast & dinner in res hall or meal equivalency only - no $6.75/lunch swipe, but you do get $350 in Dining Dollars to use anytime. So, if you’re a big lunch eater and want to use your Dining Dollars for snacks/pizza/Starbucks, etc. then Gold may be worth the extra cost. You can always change it after the first semester if you find it’s too much or too little!</p>
<p>The difference between Bronze and Gold is $300/semester - you get only 8 meals per week and $400 Dining Dollars. This could be attractive if you only want lunch and dinner and can budget accordingly. I think alot of people would rather grab a quick cereal bar and juice in their rooms and the $600/year difference can buy alot of snacks at that grocery store! If you’re housed on South, the grocery store is accross the street. On North, you’re going to have to take the bus or have access to a car.</p>
<p>i have the bronze plan. and i don’t use all of it. i used to but now i have 1-2 leftover(it sued to be 7 meals per week). waste of money. so i’m not doing any meal plan next semester. we also got 450 dining dollars… and that was enough for the 1st semester, since i used my meal plans along. but during the 2nd semester, i never used all my meal plans and instead used my dining dollars…so now i have like 8 dollars left.</p>
<p>Can dining dollars be used at all the restaurants and snack shops? Can you add $ to dining dollars if you run low? </p>
<p>Odd to me that the residence hall dining halls are not open for lunch.</p>
<p>Not all restaurants. The campus cash you practically used everywhere… but you cant use the dining dollars in the commons, which has starbucks, greek store, cvs, chinese restauruant, subway, burgerking, korean restaurant and stuff.</p>
<p>you can add dining dollars or campus cash to your account at anytime. they sometimes have events like add $100 and get another $10 thing.</p>
<p>Sorry, got DD and CC confused this am!</p>
<p>From myubcard.com:</p>
<p>Dining Dollars is a tax-free debit account
Dining Dollars are used instead of cash in residence dining halls, food courts, snack bars and vending machines
Dining Dollars can be used to in University convenience stores for food and beverage
purchases</p>
<p>The commons restaurants and many off campus places take campus cash, not DD. List is here:
[Campus</a> Cash - MyUBCard.com](<a href=“http://www.myubcard.com/ubcard/campuscash]Campus”>Campus Cash | MyUBCard.com)</p>
<p>So, bballgirl, where on the spine can you eat lunch or use a meal equivalency using dining dollars, not campus cash?</p>
<p>sk8mom- i usually eat in the student union. they have chinese food. tim hortons, and putnam. putnam has pizza. subs, salad, soup taco chicken burger things etc. or there is the capen cafe and berts? othere places. but i go to the student union the most :)</p>
<p>im just gonna purchase the highest meal plan (19 meals per week)… it is only about $150 more than silver, and if i end up not eating a lot of the meals, ill just drop down a step for next semester.</p>
<p>Did you get your schedule yet? We were going to buy the gold too, since she does eat 3 meals a day but then she got her schedule with both early morning classes and labs that run thru dinner several times a week. So, switched to bronze and putting the difference in campus cash so she can eat anywhere (and it doesn’t expire).</p>
<p>stay clear from the asian food in the union—SO NOT EDIBLE</p>
<p>lol so true about the Asian food…when we visited for Orientation my mom bought something what was drowned in sweet syrup with what appeared to be chicken (could be anything really) mixed up in noodles. It was awful. </p>
<p>I ate at the Mediterranean restaurant and the cook was super helpful, seated me and sat at the table with me explaining the menu in his best effort at proper english, then personally brought the food to the table for me and politely asked my opinion on the food after I ate. It was all a bit too nice I suppose, but a very good indication that I would eat there again and avoid the chinese lol.</p>