<p>Do freshman need a WM Express acct in addition to the meal plan with flex points? I am trying to understand the difference. It seems the WM express is used more places. I noticed there is a $1 (per transcation) convenience fee added. Couldn't the student just use their own debit card? Is there a discount for using the Express acct? If so, with a convenience charge don't you loose the benefits of the discount? Thanks for clarifying.</p>
<p>It is helpful to have express in addition to flex points. They are all accessed from your W&M ID card. Flex is only used for on campus food purchases, such as from the student exchange. It is tax free. Express, on the other hand, can be used for everything from laundry to Wawa. It denecessitates the carrying of your wallet with you debit cards and cash and the like. It is taxed and works like a debit card at many Williamsburg and all campus locations. Clubs can also transfer/collect money by means of express too. I would definitely recommend adding money on it for laundry at the very least.</p>
<p>WM express is very useful for laundry, vending machines, and paying your IT bill.</p>
<p>It can be used for food at WaWa and Bloom, but it takes longer to process than using a regular debit card.</p>
<p>Yes, you can just use your own debit card for most things, though on campus there are a few things for which you can not. Examples: doing laundry, using vending machines, and purchasing MS Office cannot be done with your debit card, but can be done with Express. Most students end up using both.</p>
<p>The convenience fee was added a year or two ago to offset the transaction fees charged by the credit card processor. The ID office claims the average deposit is $38, and at the billed rate of $0.10 + 2.9%, that adds up to about $1.20 per deposit. However, the convenience fee only applies to deposits made online. Making a deposit in person at the ID office is still free (at least for now).</p>
<p>yea… Express for laundry and vending machines (mostly laundry).</p>
<p>Can also be used various places around town.</p>
<p>I am still confused as to why the Bursar’s office doesn’t take credit cards. They are evil.</p>
<p>So the transaction fee is just when you deposit money. I misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying!</p>
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<p>Which IT bill would that be?</p>
<p>I guess the most common thing would be printing in the computer labs. I think its like 5 cents a page.</p>
<p>Understood. On that note, how strict is IT about downloading? I never get movies or anything like that, but I do get a couple of songs every few days, but not from LimeWire or anything like that. Would they be really strict about that?</p>
<p>I mean, IT isn’t going to be busting your chops, but you can bet that the RIAA might be all over you.</p>
<p>A friend of mine downloaded about 150 songs over a few months, got busted by the RIAA, and settled for 3000 dollars.</p>
<p>Yeah there was a big thing a couple years back when quite a few students got sued, but I believe that the music industry has ended that tactic and instead works through service providers.</p>
<p>The RIAA has stopped suing, but as HtH said they are working with ISPs instead to disconnect infringing users. If you’re caught, your internet will get disconnected until you check a box acknowledging that you’ve read and will comply with copyright laws. If it happens repeatedly, I think you can be referred to the Dean of Students for action, though this happens very infrequently. You can also be charged reconnection fees by the College (something like $35) after the 3rd time.</p>
<p>The College doesn’t police downloading on their own. They only act on notices received from content owners. So if you use Limewire or BitTorrent, there’s no telling how quickly you can start getting caught. You might be fine for years or you might rack up two or three notices in a month. Safest bet is something like Usenet.</p>
<p>I do love the information available of this forum! I am just beack from dropping off our freshman & I had been so confused about the W&M Express vs Flex points… and here its the information I need! </p>
<p>So Flex points are just for food & any unused balance disappears by the end of the year & W&M Express is for a variety of things & the balance rolls over from year to year, right? But I have a couple more little questions:</p>
<p>1) If you are at a food vendor on campus, does the charge automatically go to using up your Flex points or do you have to specify that somehow?<br>
2) If you are out of Flex points, I assume you can just use W&M Express to buy food on campus?<br>
3) If you run out of Flex points, is there a reason to add more Flex points or would it be better just to add money to W&M Express? </p>
<p>Thanks, as always for cluing me in!</p>
<p>Correct.</p>
<p>1) They usually ask, “flex or express?” And off campus is always express.
2) Yes.
3) It would be better to add express usually, however flex is tax free so you may save a few cents.</p>
<p>As a freshman though, unless you’re getting the gold 10 meal plan (if they still have it) you shouldn’t ever have to worry about getting food.</p>
<p>Does express money carry over from semester to semester or even year to year? At other colleges my kids have gone to it didn’t, so it was either use it or lose it.</p>
<p>Express carries over. Flex only carries over over the winter break. It is reset in May.</p>
<p>Flex points carry over from fall to spring, but not spring to fall.</p>
<p>I think that W&M Express carries over all the time, but I’m not positive on that (/it might have changed)</p>
<p>The current documentation says that the Express money carries over until the student leaves school for graduation/withdrawal. I think you have to request the refund, though, & balances less than $10 will not be refunded.</p>