The NAIT vending machine conspiracy: how to beat the system
By Tyson Sykes on November 24, 2025
Most NAIT students could tell you where the closest vending machine to them is from their classroom (one right turn from my classroom door gets me there). But as it turns out, not all of NAIT’s vending machines are created equally.
As a NAIT student in his first semester, it took me a little bit to familiarize myself with the vastness of NAIT’s various buildings, let alone the variety of food offerings across them. My nearest vending machine solved my problem. I would buy my daily snack for $3.50 and not think much else of it.
As time passed and I became more comfortable navigating NAIT, I started buying my snacks from different vending machines, only to discover that other vending machines were selling my bag of chips for $3.75! I bought the chips anyway, of course, but this led me down a rabbit hole I was not prepared for.
After mapping out prices from every vending machine I could find, here’s what you should know:
- Know your common areas: NAIT’s Common Market and Bytes Cafe vending machines both cost $3.75, while the Naitrium and Fresh Express’s vending machines cost $3.50.
- Stay on the outskirts: vending machines in the outer buildings of NAIT (the V building, for example) are cheaper than those in more central areas (like the CAT or W building).
- Buy from stores instead: My biggest breakthrough was discovering that every store in NAIT sells the same snacks for $2.50! If you’re close to somewhere like Common Market or The Corner Store, consider buying your snacks from there. NAIT has a full list of places to eat on its website.
It may not seem like much, but that 25-cent difference adds up faster than you realize. So remember, stay diligent, stay hungry and don’t buy from vending machines in the CAT building.