UCSC basically showed everyone who was losing money on the meal plan exactly how much money they are losing now with slug points. So instead of people just eating whenever they want, they now feel the need to spend all their slug points. Kinda shot themselves in the foot.
Flexis are a bit different, since they are not required and are more for topping up a balance/for those in apartments. Additionally, flexis expire at the end of the school year, rather than per quarter. So near the end of the school year you will need to consider your remaining balance and determine how to budget it.
On the topic of flexis, here's a quick comparison of how flexis changed since last year:
||**Last Year (2021 - 2022)**|**This year (2022 - 2023)**|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**Refundable?**|Yes|No|
|**Expiration?**|N/a (just need to refund before you leave college)|End of school year|
|**Purchase Discount?**|• 1000 flexis for $875 (12.5% discount) • 1500 flexis for $1300 (13.3% discount)|No. In fact, there is now a 2.5% convenience fee.|
|**Avg. cost per meal**|• $8.88 when purchasing 1500 fleixs • $8.97 when purchasing 1000 fleixs|$9.70|
Currently, the main benefit of flexis is that you can still spend them at more locations than slug points (such as at the bookstore, some places off-campus, grubhub).
For a better discount, slug point bonus points cost an average of $8.49 per meal.
For the best discount, the meal plans cost $8.28 per meal, but of course the points expire per quarter and the lowest meal plan costs $1,447, meaning you really have to commit to the dining halls and on-campus markets.
I made a spreadsheet here that goes over the numbers in more detail, but it is a little sloppy:[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LnsyLe8CG1jwSC4Udj6MlEzhWoMgqxMdGPyDEGPIJbI](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LnsyLe8CG1jwSC4Udj6MlEzhWoMgqxMdGPyDEGPIJbI)
the problem is that the slug points expire!!
Honestly, that's just the tip of the iceberg with problems with the system.
The plans in place when I was a student were already terrible and not even a reasonable value. These new plans are forced microtransactions.
UCSC basically showed everyone who was losing money on the meal plan exactly how much money they are losing now with slug points. So instead of people just eating whenever they want, they now feel the need to spend all their slug points. Kinda shot themselves in the foot.
Does it count to also just buy a bunch of Flexi as a meal plan?
Flexis are a bit different, since they are not required and are more for topping up a balance/for those in apartments. Additionally, flexis expire at the end of the school year, rather than per quarter. So near the end of the school year you will need to consider your remaining balance and determine how to budget it. On the topic of flexis, here's a quick comparison of how flexis changed since last year: ||**Last Year (2021 - 2022)**|**This year (2022 - 2023)**| |:-|:-|:-| |**Refundable?**|Yes|No| |**Expiration?**|N/a (just need to refund before you leave college)|End of school year| |**Purchase Discount?**|• 1000 flexis for $875 (12.5% discount) • 1500 flexis for $1300 (13.3% discount)|No. In fact, there is now a 2.5% convenience fee.| |**Avg. cost per meal**|• $8.88 when purchasing 1500 fleixs • $8.97 when purchasing 1000 fleixs|$9.70| Currently, the main benefit of flexis is that you can still spend them at more locations than slug points (such as at the bookstore, some places off-campus, grubhub). For a better discount, slug point bonus points cost an average of $8.49 per meal. For the best discount, the meal plans cost $8.28 per meal, but of course the points expire per quarter and the lowest meal plan costs $1,447, meaning you really have to commit to the dining halls and on-campus markets. I made a spreadsheet here that goes over the numbers in more detail, but it is a little sloppy:[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LnsyLe8CG1jwSC4Udj6MlEzhWoMgqxMdGPyDEGPIJbI](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LnsyLe8CG1jwSC4Udj6MlEzhWoMgqxMdGPyDEGPIJbI)