Dining Dollars offer greater purchasing choices

Megan Miller MIL04034@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

The meal plans on campus have always been a way for students to get more for less, but starting this year, Food Services has introduced a new program that will allow students, and even employees, to get even more for even less.

Dining Dollars are the newest way to eat on campus and save anywhere from five to 20 percent on every food purchase.

“We wanted to give a discount and be able to have them roll over from semester to semester, unlike the meal plans, which expire with each semester,” said Mark Miller, an accountant with Food Services.

Where the meal plans are catered mostly toward the Galley, Dining Dollars can be used at every food vendor on campus including groceries from Tomassito’s and vending machines with swipe strips.

Dining Dollars work by purchasing anywhere from $50-$1999 worth of Dining Dollars. Each dollar amount has a different rate of savings.

For example, according to a demonstration lead by Mark Miller, if someone purchased $200 worth, they would receive a savings of 7.5 percent, or $15, which is then added on to their I-Card.

So a sandwich at Block and Barrel that is normally $2.99 would save you 15 cents with a 5 percent or up to 60 cents with a 20 percent.

“Another benefit is that they make the lines go a lot faster compared to having to pay with cash or credit card,” Miller said. “The more people that use them the faster the line will be.”

To ensure that money for Dining Dollars is used rather than I-Card money, students should tell the cashier they have Dining Dollars on their card.

Vending Machines that have swipe strips are programmed to look for Dining Dollars first when a card is swiped and then I-Card money.

Nearly 700 students are using some form of Dining Dollars on campus and Food Services expects that number to grow as more people hear about it.

Campus employees who eat on campus have also started signing up for Dining Dollars in order to save a few extra bucks, Miller said.

While Dining Dollars are an alternative to campus meal plans, Food Services doesn’t expect Dining Dollars to completely replace meal plans, Miller said.

“On campus non-cooking students are still required to have a meal plan, but they can purchase the lowest amount and use Dining Dollars to have more flexibility and have them carry over into the next semester,” he said.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Dining Dollars program can call the Food Service office at Ext. 2250 or visit www.byui.edu/foodservices.