MealPal Review: Financial District NYC

For the past few months, I've been using MealPal (formerly MealPass) and decided to do a mini review on it. MealPal is a prepaid meal plan, and depending on the plan you choose, lunches are roughly $5.99 to $6.99 each. It might seem like a lot to buy all of your lunches upfront, especially since you are paying the total cost. But if you factor how much you spend on average for lunch, MealPal is a deal. At least for me. I typically spend $10-12 on lunch - sometimes more - depending on the credit card or delivery minimums here in the Financial District. If you add that up for the month, that's a pretty penny on lunch for the month! I don't usually deviate from the places I get lunch from, and that's how I found out about MealPal. I saw more and more of my usual spots with MealPal signs and decided to take the plunge. I read up on it and saw mixed reviews, but signed up anyway. What's the worst that could happen?

MealPal Plans

When I signed up in the middle of May, there were only 2 options - the 12 plan or the 20 plan - but at the time of writing, there is now a 3rd plan for 6 meals. The plan and price breakdowns are pretty straight forward. You buy the meals ahead of time at the beginning of each 30 day cycle, and each night after 5 pm, you reserve lunch and done. BUT if you don't use all your meals within the 30 days, then you lose them. They do NOT roll over to the next month. From a business perspective, I get it. From the consumer side, I am miffed. Also - if you work on a weekday that happens to be a holiday, then no MealPal for you. I don't think that should matter because people still have to eat, but I guess MealPal doesn't think so.

There was a promo to get the 20 meal plan for the price of 12, so I started with that. I figured that if I used at least 10 of the meals, I would break even, anything over it would be a deal. After answering questions on food allergies, which foods I liked, etc. I ordered my first meal and waited anxiously to see how this would work out. I skipped out to lunch the following afternoon and was happy to see my lunch ready and waiting for me. Over the course of the month, I learned which places would have my food ready vs waiting for it to be made. I had a few crappy meals but was overall satisfied with the choices. By my second month, I was trying new restaurants and venturing out further into the neighborhood. While most of the places are within walking distance of my office, some were definitely pushing the boundary of how far I could do the round trip during my 30 min break.

Pros:

• Cheaper meals
• Plenty of options 
• Found new places
• Great customer service
• Little to no wait time

Cons:

• Some meals repetitive
• Good meals sell out quickly
• Meals not offered on holidays
• Meals don't roll over

While I have a few gripes with MealPal, I'm satisfied enough to keep renewing my plan. At the end of the day, I am a creature of habit and don't change my lunch options often enough to care *THAT* much, although it would be nice if some more variety was added. Now if they rolled this out to more neighborhoods, especially in the boroughs, it'd hit the spot! 

- L

**This is NOT a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.**