According to Yale College Council calculations, Yale’s flex point plan is at least $920 undervalued. 

On Sept. 15, the YCC passed a policy proposal calling on Yale Hospitality to increase flex points from 300 to 400 or decrease the price of the flex meal plan to account for this discrepancy. This push comes after Yale Hospitality increased the value of the Bow Wow swipe to $12, following YCC advocacy. 

“With the rising costs at The Bow Wow, Elm, and other Yale Hospitality retail locations, students should not have to incur additional or out-of-pocket expenses to cover their lost meal swipes,” Sahra Wahedi ’27, YCC dining team director, wrote to the News. 

The News calculated that Yale’s flex point plan is undervalued by $816, using an average value of $12 per meal swipe. The YCC used $10 per meal swipe, which accounts for the discrepancy between the News’ value and the YCC’s. 

Students on the flex point meal plan get 14 weekly and 10 guest swipes per semester, compared to 21 weekly and 5 guest swipes on the full meal plan, which costs the same. Students on the flex meal plan additionally get 300 flex points they can use at residential dining halls and Yale cafes. 

Last year, Carter Dewees ’25 spearheaded a policy proposal to increase the value of the Bow Wow meal swipe. The proposal, which passed in the YCC Senate, highlighted the discrepancy between the cost of a lunch meal swipe, $13.50, and the then-value of a swipe at the Bow Wow, $10, and called on Yale Hospitality to increase the Bow Wow meal swipe value. 

Yale Hospitality raised the Bow Wow swipe value to $12 as of the start of the school year, following last year’s advocacy by YCC. Yale Hospitality said that the Bow Wow’s swipe value was increased in alignment with “ongoing efforts to offer increased value to students.” 

“In my conversations with administrative members of Yale Hospitality, there was a lot of pushback regarding the difference in retail and residential dining services,” YCC Vice President Esha Garg ’26, who served as deputy dining policy director last year, wrote. 

Garg added that while the Bow Wow meal swipe increase was successful, the prices of some items have also increased in the Bow Wow, Elm and Ivy. 

While Garg does not know the exact difference on all items, she has noticed that certain items have increased by about $0.50-1.00. 

“For example, fries in the Ivy were $4 in 2023-2024 and are now $5,” Garg wrote. “Lattes in the Elm seem to have also increased in price by about 10-20% as well.”

Yale Hospitality shared that the recent price changes of some items at the Bow Wow and Elm were part of an annual price review that considered multiple factors such as national inflation and market trends. Yale Hospitality regularly reviews its prices to “remain competitive while considering operating costs and maintaining appropriate margins.” They declined to share their price lists from 2023-24 with the News. 

Wahedi and YCC Dining Team Director Anna Krans ’27 said that they are planning to present the recent Senate proposal to increase flex points to 400 at an upcoming meeting with Yale Hospitality. 

Wahedi wrote that while they are “incredibly grateful” to Yale Hospitality for increasing the cash value of a Bow Wow meal, there is “still room for improvement” in regards to flex points value. 

Yale Hospitality also shared that while they have no current plans to adjust flex points, they will “continue to evaluate” and “remain in active discussions with YCC to ensure flexibility and affordability.”

“Our biggest challenge is having Yale Hospitality receptive to this concern. We need to carefully discuss the standardization of the Flex Plan with the Full Meal Plan, finding a balance of points that satisfies students while retaining their original value,” Wahedi wrote to the News. 

Yale Hospitality is located at 246 Church St.