Travelers across the country are feeling anxious and uncertain during a time of upheaval at U.S. airports, and the upcoming Memorial Day weekend — the traditional start of the summer travel season — is shaping up to be especially fraught. AAA forecasts a record 45.1 million people in the United States will travel at least 50 miles from home during the five days starting Thursday. IHG Hotels & Resorts reports seeing double-digit-percentage increases in holiday weekend travel bookings in areas like the California wine country and Palm Beach, Fla. According to the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which tracks data that covers about two-thirds of global sales, domestic travel is up 4 percent this year, and fewer Americans are planning trips abroad this summer — which could make U.S. destinations particularly crowded. Disruptions related to air traffic control at Newark Liberty International Airport in recent weeks, which could reverberate across the U.S. air travel industry, and recent air crashes have exacerbated the nervousness. With increased demand on the beleaguered aviation industry, here’s what to know about traveling this holiday weekend. The Real ID transition has been smooth, so far The impact of the May 7 Real ID deadline has not prevented most passengers from flying, but could still lead to delays at security checkpoints. The T.S.A. said this month that it planned to conduct additional screening for travelers without the federally compliant state-issued identification “until it is no longer considered a security vulnerability.” Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Rebecca Alesia, a travel adviser with SmartFlyer in New York City, said that while many airports are separating those without Real ID cards for extra screening, it is still most efficient to carry a passport if you don’t have a Real ID. Mr. Vlitas said he applied for a passport card — an acceptable Real ID substitute that has no pages and can be used at land and sea crossings with Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and some Caribbean countries — so as to not have to carry his passport. Travelers who anticipate having any issues with identification would be wise to budget for extra time in line. Be nimble when it comes to Newark Airport Federal regulators are responding to the combination of problems at Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, by limiting the number of flights that can take off and land there. That means that passengers on United Airlines, which uses Newark as a hub, could face long delays across the network if their planes are routed through Newark. United is offering waivers to rebook Newark flights to Philadelphia International or LaGuardia Airport through May 23. Ms. Alesia recommended booking direct flights with potential transfers to cars or trains instead of layovers. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT And while changing plans to fly out of a different airport may be enticing, Ms. Alesia cautioned travelers that problems can arise anywhere. “The best thing to do is just keep calm,” she said. “Remember that part of travel is going outside your comfort zone.” Ms. Alesia said that amid widespread cancellations at Newark, she recommends booking early-morning flights, so that even if your flight is delayed, it has a chance of taking off. A tried-and-true strategy: Get to the airport early Social media has been abuzz with what is known as “airport theory,” which suggests that since travelers need to be at their gate only 15 minutes before takeoff, they don’t need to show up at security until their flights begin boarding. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT But Michael DiCostanzo, a content creator who believes he helped start this trend, said that his videos about zipping through security had been misunderstood — he was only trying to prove that security often takes less time than people think. He timed the journey through screening at four major airports and found that it often took only about 15 minutes. “I think a lot of people became attached to this 15-minute number,” he said, adding that he likes to arrive at the airport two and a half hours before his flights. “I never take any chances.” So while delays and cancellations are out of a passenger’s control, getting to the airport early is a good way to ensure you’re prepared for potential delays. The rule of thumb is to arrive two hours before departure for domestic flights, and three hours for an international flight. Peter Vlitas, a vice president for the Internova Travel Group, one of the largest travel services companies in the world, said he takes no chances, telling his travelers to arrive three hours before even a domestic journey during the holiday weekend. “Planes are full,” Mr. Vlitas said. “If you miss your flight, there’s no guarantee you’ll get on the next one.” Mr. Vlitas advised travelers to check in online before arriving at the airport. Additional prescreening services such as the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program and Clear can help passengers move through security more quickly, he said, but cost extra. Staffing shortages may affect some tourist hot spots Over 330 million people visit the nation’s 63 national parks and hundreds of historic sites and other attractions managed by the National Park Service, places where staffing shortages resulting from budget cuts could affect plans. Already this year, some of the most popular parks have reported long traffic lines. As part of the Trump administration’s effort to reduce the federal work force, the Department of the Interior, which runs the park service, in February fired more than 1,000 National Park Service employees — and then more than 700 additional staff members submitted their resignations. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum then said the park service would hire thousands of workers in temporary, summer positions. Conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts and park rangers warned at the time that hundreds of sites run by the park service could be left understaffed during the busy summer season. Visitors planning trips can plan ahead by looking up the site on the park service’s online guide, where they might be able to book passes. The National Park Service didn’t respond to a request for comment. Mind the new rules about batteries in checked luggage The T.S.A. announced recently that lithium batteries, included those found in phone chargers, power banks and portable chargers, can fly only in carry-on luggage. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT The new rule comes after many airlines in Asia tightened rules concerning the batteries following a fire that destroyed an Air Busan plane as it waited on the tarmac in South Korea in January. Under the new T.S.A. guidelines, if a passenger’s bag is gate checked, meaning that a carry-on is put in the cargo hold because of space limitations, that passenger must remove all lithium batteries from the bag and bring them into the plane’s cabin.

A $5 cap on fees for overdrawing your bank account balance is likely to be among the latest consumer protections from Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidency to fall. Congress voted last week to strike down the $5 cap on most overdraft fees approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late last year. President Trump is expected to sign the change into law, though the timing is uncertain. The change means that the biggest banks and credit unions will be able to continue charging hefty fees — often ranging from $15 to as much as $35 — for covering shortfalls when you write a check or use your A.T.M. card for more money than is in your checking account. Households that pay overdraft fees would have saved an average of $225 a year under the proposed rule, the consumer bureau said when it enacted the rule. Households that struggle to pay bills, save for emergencies and manage debt are more likely to pay overdraft fees, the Financial Health Network, a nonprofit focused on financial stability, has found. Such households are disproportionately Black and Latino, and most make $30,000 a year or less. For this group, which may lack options for affordable credit, overdraft fees compound financial challenges and “can have a considerable negative impact,” the network reported in 2023. “People with low incomes really bear the brunt of this,” said Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. Consumers also won’t see lower fees when they pay their credit card bills late. This week, the Trump administration scrapped an $8 limit on most card late fees, which hover around $32. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, overdraft fees are unpopular, with 70 percent of Americans deeming a $35 overdraft fee to be “unfair.” Most people would prefer to have banks simply decline transactions if they lacked funds in their account, Pew found, and 84 percent want the government to encourage banks to lower the fees. Banks, however, argue that 70 percent of bank customers find their bank’s overdraft service “valuable.” Consumers “have indicated time and time again that they value and appreciate” the service, Rob Nichols, chief executive of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement after Congress struck down the cap. What exactly is an overdraft? An overdraft occurs when your checking account balance is too low to cover a purchase or withdrawal, but the bank covers the amount and, typically, charges you a fee. Overdraft fees began as a “courtesy” in the late 1960s to help bank customers avoid bounced checks, according to Pew. As debit cards gained popularity, the fees became a significant source of revenue for banks — an estimated $12 billion in 2024, according to an analysis by the Financial Health Network. Does this mean banks will charge higher overdraft fees now? Not necessarily. The fee cap was not scheduled to take effect until October. So for now, at least, little has changed, said Jennifer Tescher, the Financial Health Network’s chief executive. Scrutiny by the consumer bureau, along with competition from digital money tools, had led some big banks to eliminate or reduce overdraft fees in recent years, or to give customers more wiggle room to bring account balances out of the red before charging them. “I don’t expect banks to all of a sudden renege on positive changes they have made to overdraft policies,” Ms. Tescher said. Which banks have eliminated or reduced overdraft fees? It can pay to shop around to find banks with no or low overdraft fees, said Adam Rust, director of financial services with the Consumer Federation of America, although consumers must weigh the size of overdraft fees with other account fees that banks may charge. Some big banks have done away with the overdraft fees, although the details of how they handle overdrawn accounts vary. Some, for instance, may set limits — like $250 — on the size of the overdraft they will cover. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Capital One eliminated overdraft fees in 2022. Its customers are not charged a fee if they overdraw their account and the bank covers the shortage, according to the bank’s website. But if the shortage isn’t covered “promptly,” the bank may decline to cover further overdrafts and may close your account. Other banks that did away with the fees include Ally Bank and Citibank. Banks that have reduced their overdraft fees include Bank of America ($10), KeyBank ($20) and Huntington Bank ($15). How can I avoid overdraft fees? If your bank account does charge overdraft fees, make sure you understand your bank’s policies and that the bank knows your preferences. At most banks, overdraft coverage means that the bank, for a fee, generally pays shortages caused by checks, automatic bill payments and recurring debit card transactions, like membership fees. But you must choose, or “opt in,” to have optional coverage for shortages resulting from everyday debit card spending and A.T.M. withdrawals. If you don’t elect coverage of debit and A.T.M. withdrawals and you overdraw your account, the transactions will simply be declined. (There’s often no bank fee charged in those circumstances since many banks have done away with what were known as NSF or non-sufficient funds fees.) “Make sure you are opted out for debit card transactions,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, if you don’t want to risk overdraft fees for everyday spending. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT If you do want overdraft coverage as a backup, opt in. But be prepared to pay fees if you overdraw your account. Either way, it’s smart to set up low-balance alerts, via text or email, to warn you if your account falls below a certain limit. Most banks offer the option to link your checking account to another account — a savings account, say — at the bank. If your checking account balance goes negative, funds are automatically transferred into your checking account to cover the shortage, often with no fee or, at least, a lower fee than one you would pay for an overdraft. That may mean keeping some funds in a savings account that earns a low rate of interest, Mr. Rust said. Many people now stash free cash in high-yield savings accounts at online banks, which tend to pay higher rates. But, he said, the overdraft transfer option generally isn’t offered for accounts at outside institutions. Many banks and credit unions offer low-cost bank accounts with no overdraft fees through partnerships with Bank On, a nonprofit-run program that works with banks nationally to certify safe, low-cost accounts. You can ask a bank if it offers Bank On accounts, or search on the program’s website. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Thomas Rudzewick, chief executive of Maspeth Federal Savings in New York, suggested that consumers consider smaller institutions like his, which have no-fee accounts and are willing to work with customers to improve their budgeting skills if they run into problems overdrawing their accounts. Are there alternatives to using overdraft services? More banks are offering short-term installment loans or lines of credit, which can help people get through a cash crunch. The loans can be quickly approved, based on the account holder’s track record at the bank. Payments can be spread over several months, and rates are lower than for high-interest “payday” loans. US Bank’s “Simple Loan” offering, for instance, lets customers apply while logged in to their checking account to get a “real-time” decision on borrowing $100 to $1,000. Funds are deposited directly into their accounts, at a cost of $6 for every $100 — roughly a 36 percent annual percentage rate. That means a loan of $400 has a fee of $24, according to the bank’s website. (By comparison, traditional, payday loans can have triple-digit interest rates.) Other banks offering similar “small-dollar” loans include Bank of America, Huntington Bank, Regions Bank, Truist and Wells Fargo. What about digital financial tools? Some financial technology firms or “neobanks” promote banking services with no overdraft fees, but there’s reason to be cautious about using such apps. While the firms team up with banks to hold deposits, they are not banks themselves, and your money may be vulnerable when it’s in transit, as The New York Times has reported. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation recommends that if an app claims to offer federally insured deposits, “you should identify which specific F.D.I.C.-insured bank or banks” will hold your money and confirm the bank is insured by searching in the agency’s BankFind tool.

Over the blitz of a whirring blender, Emilio Pérez, a chef and partner at Casa Jacaranda cooking school in Mexico City, yelled, “Check this out guys, come here.” Standing in front of a burner, he incinerated a tortilla, its charred remains bound for mole sauce, before directing our attention to the blender to taste the spicy red salsa. Then it was back to the burners to see shriveled raisins — another mole ingredient — plump up, before mixing dough for tortillas. For the next several hours, my attention volleyed from ingredient to ingredient, dish to dish, as our class of eight students prepared a Mexican menu of green tamales, chicken mole, two kinds of salsa and blue corn tortillas under the energetic tutelage of Chef Emilio, as we called him. For cultural spice, he threw in observations such as, “We domesticated the corn and it domesticated us.” Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT I had come to Mexico City in February seeking just such culinary and cultural immersion. A friend had recently returned from Italy, raving about her four-day cooking school, which was more than $1,000 a day. In the capital of Mexico, I knew I could stretch my budget — a dollar is worth about 20 pesos today — and spend about $200 a day on a D.I.Y. curriculum in one of the world’s most celebrated food traditions, cited on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Part of the experience trend in travel, cooking classes are booming. They are a major component of what the market research firm Grandview Research calls culinary tourism, accounting for $11.5 billion globally and projected to grow nearly 20 percent a year to 2030. Over three days, my husband, Dave, and I took three classes and still had time to catch a lucha libre wrestling match, visit the studios of the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and enjoy complimentary mezcal on the rooftop of NaNa Vida hotel in the bohemian Roma district (rooms from 2,888 pesos).

Dear Tripped Up, In early January, my partner and I took a Holland America Line cruise in Baja California, Mexico. Months earlier, we had put our names on a waiting list for a $400-a-person whale-watching shore excursion that was scheduled for the fourth day of the cruise. Holland America confirmed our spot on the waiting list and told us that if spots opened up, it would notify us by email “on how to complete the purchase,” giving us 72 hours to do so. As the sailing date approached, we gave up hope and arranged a whale-watching trip on our own. But a couple of days into the cruise, we noticed that our credit cards had been charged $800 total when we boarded. We then found a note at our stateroom door (along with various announcements and coupons) explaining we had been booked on the excursion and instructing us to call or visit the shore excursion desk if we had made other arrangements. We went immediately, but the desk was closed. We returned the next morning, only to be told we had apparently missed a 48-hour post-purchase deadline to cancel. But the notice did not mention any deadline — and more outrageously, we had never agreed to the purchase in the first place! Appealing to the manager did not help, nor did a 53-minute call to guest relations after the cruise. Can you help? Gabriele, Oxnard, Calif. Dear Gabriele, I took a look at Holland America’s “Know Before You Go” page to see whether there was any related policy you should have, well, known before you went. There was a lot to take in: You can bring up to six liters of water on board with you, but no soda or energy drinks. Distressed jeans are not permitted in table-service restaurants. And more relevant, passengers are required to create an account to use for onboard purchases, and it will be charged automatically for a daily “crew appreciation gratuity” as well as for 18 percent tips on food, drink and spa purchases. There’s no mention of charging your account for shore excursions without your approval, so I understand your exasperation. But after hearing from Holland America and a cruise expert, I’d say the greater offense was the shore excursion manager’s refusal to back down by stretching the deadline a few hours — especially considering it was a deadline you had not been informed of, applied to a purchase you did not explicitly authorize. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Holland America quickly admitted fault on this last point and has now refunded you each $400. Guests who choose not to take an excursion in this situation are owed full refunds, and that should have happened when you made the request, said Jeanine Takala, a spokeswoman for the company, via email. “This was our error, and we apologize for the mistake,” she added. Ms. Takala explained that your card was charged because once passengers board the ship, the cruise line uses a different system: charging them and then notifying them through the onboard Navigator app and stateroom letters, and in some cases by trying to call them, giving them a chance to cancel. But the cruise line has now changed its policy, she wrote in a follow-up email. As of this week, when excursion spots open up after the ship has set sail, wait-listed passengers will be notified and given a short period (often 24 hours, depending on when the excursion is scheduled) in which to accept the spot, or they lose it and won’t be charged. Of course, that would still require passengers to pay close attention to their onboard and online correspondence. In your case, this communication system broke down, though who’s at fault for that gets a bit foggy. You later told me that you elected not to use the Navigator app. But your partner did, and did not receive (or recall receiving) a notification and did not see that the excursion had been added to your schedule. You also said in your initial email that you two did not carefully go through the mail delivered to your stateroom, noting that it included coupons and other announcements. Not being a cruise fanatic myself, I spoke with Chris Gray Faust, U.S. executive editor of the cruise news site Cruise Critic, via video call from — where else? — her stateroom aboard a cruise ship. She was surprised, and maybe a little appalled, that the manager you spoke to on board hadn’t given you an immediate refund. She was even more baffled that your post-cruise follow-up phone call hadn’t resolved the problem. But she was far less bothered by Holland America’s former system of automatically placing wait-listed passengers on shore excursions — and charging their credit cards — when spots opened up, since a system that waited for people to opt in might leave empty spots and disappointed customers. “They’re trying to make everybody happy,” she said. “So they think the way to make the person happy is to say, ‘Hey, we got this slot. We’re going to put you in it.’” She noted that such a policy serves the cruise line’s interest, too: It has already committed to pay the contractor organizing the excursion, so it needs to fill the spots. (The new system might end up leaving more spots empty.) Of course, she said, a cruise line should make an effort to explain the process to wait-listed customers, alerting them to look out for notices at their door and on the app. But passengers on any cruise line should also remove themselves from the waiting list once they have made alternative plans, both to protect themselves and to speed the process for others. Sounds reasonable. In an odd twist that sure makes it seem to me as if members of the shore excursion staff weren’t at the top of their game, you told me that they repeatedly offered you a printed letter titled “For Insurance Purposes” verifying that you had not participated in the excursion but had paid. (You said you did not even have a travel insurance policy.) Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT That was inappropriate, wrote Ms. Takala. Those letters are meant to help in “situations where an unforeseen event has disrupted the guest’s trip” and might prompt reimbursement from a travel insurance provider. Alas, the unforeseen event in this case — a cruise line making a surprise charge on your credit card — would almost certainly never be covered.

You have no control over the volatility in financial markets or the economic tumult caused by President Trump’s tariff policies. But you can prepare for financial potholes by bolstering your rainy-day fund. “Emergency savings is one of the single best predictors of a person’s financial well-being,” said Stephen Roll, co-director of research and policy innovation at the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studies economic security. Consumers are facing more uncertainty than usual about the economy. While the labor market has held steady, with unemployment at 4.2 percent in April, the Trump administration’s pursuit of tariffs has rekindled worries about both inflation and a possible business slump. “Nobody can predict what’s going to happen,” said Ramit Sethi, the author of personal finance books, including “Money for Couples.” “I’m hoping everything goes well.” But in case it doesn’t, he said, it’s wise to create a cash cushion. How much should I save in an emergency fund? Vanguard, the big mutual fund company, suggests setting aside $2,000, or half of one month’s expenses, whichever is greater, as a buffer to cover unexpected but common “shocks,” like a car or home repair or medical bill. Then, to protect against a possible job loss, it suggests continuing to save to build a buffer of three to six months of living expenses so you can pay your bills while looking for another job. (The average span of unemployment was just under six months, according to the latest jobs report.) With roughly $2,000 on hand, people can generally cover unforeseen costs without resorting to credit cards, which carry double-digit interest rates, said Paulo Costa, a senior behavioral economist at Vanguard who is also a certified financial planner. “The initial $2,000 is really what makes a big difference,” he said, by helping people avoid becoming financially derailed by common, if unanticipated, expenses. “Having it when you need it provides people with a lot of peace of mind.” Even smaller amounts can help, Dr. Costa said. “Saving something is better than saving nothing.” Some research has shown that for lower-income families, savings of as little as $250 to $750 can significantly reduce the likelihood of serious financial woes, like missing a utility payment or being evicted. Also, take your family’s circumstances into account, said Spencer Betts, a certified financial planner in Lexington, Mass. If you are married and both you and your spouse make good salaries, maybe saving three months of expenses is sufficient. But if you’re in a niche or low-demand industry and it may take a while to find a new job, you may want to put aside enough money to cover six months of expenses or more. He recommended setting both a number and a time frame. “The more specific the goal is,” he said, “the easier it is to save for.” J. Michael Collins, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a household finance specialist, said the three- to six-month guideline might be too daunting for many people. He suggested that people consider these questions: “What keeps you up at night? Making the rent or mortgage? A car payment?” Aim to set aside enough to cover a month or two of those expenses, he said. Mr. Sethi said that given the potential upheaval from the tariffs, he would recommend building up savings to cover 12 months of expenses as a protective “moat,” in case companies begin to retrench and lay off workers. But he acknowledged that that was a large number for many people to contemplate, so savers should start with a smaller goal and build from there over time. “It’s a very ambitious goal,” he said. How can I find extra cash to save? Mr. Sethi advised scrutinizing nonessential spending for potential trims. This may include travel and restaurant meals. If you dine out multiple times a month, consider reducing eating out to once a month. He also suggests putting major purchases like a new car on hold, and stretching out personal services like haircuts from, say, four weeks to five weeks. Create a “mission statement,” he said — something like, “In our family, we always have a financial moat in case something goes wrong.” That helps remind you that there’s a larger purpose for cutting spending, he said. If you are paying extra on a mortgage to pay it off faster, you could temporarily stop that, especially if you have a low interest rate on the loan, he said. And if you max out contributions to a workplace retirement account, consider reducing contributions temporarily and putting the funds toward your emergency account. But you should at least continue contributing enough to get any match your employer offers, he said. Once you have determined how much to save, automate transfers from your checking account to a separate emergency reserve account, Dr. Costa said. That way, you don’t have to remember to move the money. In addition to making regular transfers to savings, Dr. Costa said, try to save one-time windfalls — such as an income-tax refund or a bonus. Where should I keep my backup funds? Someplace that’s accessible, but not too accessible, experts say — like a separate, high-yield savings account that’s linked to your checking account. Mixing the emergency money with your working cash may tempt you to spend it. Most high-yield accounts, typically available at online banks, are paying rates of 3 or 4 percent or more, which is above the rate of inflation. Those rates are much higher than a typical checking account. Money market accounts — either at banks or money market mutual fund accounts available at brokerages — can also be a good choice. Dr. Costa at Vanguard said that if you had built a substantial reserve, you might want to consider keeping at least some of the funds invested in the market, where they can earn higher returns. But that depends on your risk tolerance. “Emergency savings is for peace of mind,” he said, so whether any of your reserve is invested or kept completely in cash “is a personal decision.” Can my employer help me save for emergencies? More employers are exploring ways for workers to save for surprise expenses, either through accounts linked to retirement plans or via stand-alone apps. A provision of the SECURE 2.0 retirement law, which took effect last year, allows employers to offer emergency savings accounts within workplace retirement plans. Workers can contribute up to $2,500 after taxes to an emergency fund and withdraw the money as needed. (Generally, employees making less than $160,000 in 2025 are eligible.) Employers can match contributions, but they must deposit the matching funds into the retirement account. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Employers have been slow to adopt the retirement-plan option, in part because the rules for creating the emergency accounts are complex, said Emerson Sprick, an economist and associate director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank. Still, interest is growing. T. Rowe Price, which oversees retirement plans for employers, announced in April that it had begun offering the accounts — formally, “pension-linked” emergency savings accounts — to its clients. T. Rowe also supports penalty-free, emergency withdrawals of up to $1,000 a year from retirement plans, another option permitted under SECURE 2.0. In addition, the company offers a stand-alone emergency savings option to employers, outside the retirement plan, through its Waysavers app. Employers can adopt one or all of the options. Other stand-alone digital tools, like SecureSave, are helping companies offer rainy-day accounts to their workers. (One difference is that unlike retirement-linked emergency savings accounts, independent apps can’t automatically enroll workers.) SecureSave automatically transfers funds from workers’ paychecks into accounts at partner banks. If workers leave the company, they take the accounts with them. Sabrina Jones, founder of moving and cleaning companies in Spokane, Wash., said that she began offering SecureSave to employees at both companies last summer and that the accounts had proved popular. One worker told her that she had used the funds to repair her car. “It’s a great benefit,” Ms. Jones said. “I’m not a huge employer, but I want to offer what I can to be competitive.” Workers at Movher, a moving company, who are paid biweekly, receive a match of $5 for every $20 contributed, while employees of the cleaning firm, paid weekly, get $2.50 for every $10. So far this year, Ms. Jones said, the cleaning employees have accumulated a total of $4,300, while the moving staff has saved $3,000.

So you can whip together a weekend bag or fit a fortnight’s worth of outfits into a rolling suitcase, but does your status as “packing guru” extend to your phone or tablet? Think of your device as a second carry-on, with its own packing list of apps that are essential for entertainment, getting around, safety and more. “Everyone talks about making the super app, the one place for everything you need,” said Gilbert Ott, partnerships director at Point.me, a website that helps travelers manage loyalty points, “but no one has done it yet.” Until that super travel app exists, here are some suggested apps to download before you go. Safety and security Public Wi-Fi networks like those in cafes and hotels may not be secure, so to keep criminals from intercepting passwords, credit card numbers and emails, “it’s better to encrypt your internet activity,” said Mr. Ott. One method to keep data secure is to download and use virtual private networks like NordVPN or ExpressVPN, which encrypt your web doings. Both charge about $13 per month for a monthly plan, and about half that rate for a yearly plan. Another VPN provider, Mullvad, charges about $5.50 per month. It may be tempting to store copies of important documents like passports, health insurance cards and prescriptions on your phone as photos, but it’s more secure to use apps that encrypt that information, like 1Password (starting at $35.88 per year) and Microsoft OneDrive Personal Vault (included with a $99.99-per-year Microsoft 365 subscription or, for nonsubscribers, three files free storage). Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Getting around The U.S. government’s free Mobile Passport Control app can help U.S. citizens and some other groups — even travelers not in the Global Entry program — make their way through immigration and customs more quickly by scanning their passport into the app and adding a selfie within four hours of arrival. Preloading the information speeds your interaction with the officer. For detailed information on public transportation that can go beyond Google Maps, Moovit (free with ads or Moovit+ with additional features and no ads for $17.99 per year) and Citymapper (free with ads or $9.99 per year) can help with routes, fares and trip length around the world. In cities like New York and London, make sure you’ve loaded a credit or debit card in your digital wallet and set it up for transit to avoid lines by using touchless payment at turnstiles. In some countries, hailing a cab on the street may be difficult or unsafe. So where Uber and Lyft aren’t available, download local trusted ride-hailing apps that offer set fares and location tracking. In Vietnam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, for example, Grab offers rides in cars, taxis and on the backs of motorcycles. In India, Ola is a popular choice. Entertainment For hours spent in planes, trains and hotel rooms, load your device with a mix of diversions and destination information. Taylor Beal, a travel blogger from Philadelphia, who leads high school groups on trips to Europe, recommends borrowing electronic library books using Libby and Hoopla. The apps are free but require a local library card from one of the more than 90,000 participating public libraries and schools. For road trips in the United States, the phone app Autio ($35.99 annually, with a free trial) offers 23,000 short stories and information about the surrounding landscape and history, based on your location. Offerings include Kevin Costner on the northern Great Plains and John Lithgow on “Footloose” filming locations. Traveling together Keeping track of who paid for what among a group of friends can be a fun-killing chore. Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst for Upgraded Points, recommends Splitwise Pro ($39.99 per year, or a limited free version), which tracks and divides up expenses for taxis, meals and more. Other apps like Tricount (free) and Settle Up (free, or $19.99 per year for the premium version) offer similar services. For tracking flights and making plans either solo or with companions, TripIt (free version or TripItPro $49 per year) and Wanderlog (free version or Wanderlog Pro for $39.99 per year) can tame even complicated itineraries. Translating You may already have Google Translate on your device, but that app also has some lesser-known handy features. Point your camera at a foreign menu, train station sign or receipt, for example, and Google can translate it — even with non-Roman characters. The Conversation button in the app lets you pass your phone back and forth when you’re trying to get directions, order food, ask for help and more. You can even create a custom phrase book in the app. Local attractions Bloomberg Connects has teamed up with more than 800 museums and other cultural spaces, like the New York Botanical Garden, around the world to offer free information on their exhibits, complementing local organizations like the Musée Carnavalet, a history museum in Paris, which often have institution-specific apps. Of course, there’s also always the good, old-fashioned way to travel — wandering around and letting serendipity take the lead. Is there an app for that, too?

The Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Frank Bisignano as commissioner of the Social Security Administration, which has been thrown into turmoil after a three-month stretch steered largely by Elon Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency. President Trump’s nominee was confirmed by a vote of 53 to 47, which had been expected and was split along party lines. Mr. Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, will take the helm at a critical juncture. A series of recent changes led by DOGE, including deep job cuts and a move to manipulate sensitive databases, have rattled current and former employees, former commissioners of both parties, beneficiaries and their advocates. They have been alarmed by the fast and seemingly haphazard shifts, as well as the departure from established protocols that protect beneficiaries’ privacy and ensure they continue to receive payments. The question is whether Mr. Bisignano, 65, the former chief of the payments giant Fiserv, will steady the agency, which delivers retirement, disability and survivor payments to 73 million Americans every month. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Senator Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho who leads the Finance Committee, urged his colleagues last week to vote in favor of Mr. Bisignano, emphasizing his decades of experience leading large financial institutions and noting his commitment to improving customer service at the agency. But Democratic lawmakers remained unconvinced, and they continued to raise many of the same concerns they grilled Mr. Bisignano about during his three-hour Senate confirmation hearing in late March: Would he give in to calls by DOGE that could further hobble the program, or will he act independently in the best interest of the agency and its beneficiaries? Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, spoke against his confirmation on Monday, expressing concerns that Mr. Bisignano would simply “rubber-stamp” Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Musk’s agenda. “He’ll let them keep slashing services and threatening benefits,” she said from the Senate floor. “That will hurt people everywhere — from seniors who count on their monthly checks right now, to the parents of kids with a disability supported by Social Security, to every American paying into the program now for later down the line.” Mr. Bisignano, who is viewed as a turnaround expert, has held positions at several of Wall Street’s marquee firms, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. He earned $100 million in 2017, more than 2,000 times the average employee’s salary at his firm at the time, First Data Corporation, which later merged with Fiserv. Despite calling himself “fundamentally a DOGE person” in a February interview on CNBC, Mr. Bisignano appeared to distance himself from the recent changes at the Social Security Administration during his March nomination hearing. That characterization was challenged at the hearing by Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, who produced a statement that he said was from a whistle-blower. Mr. Wyden, citing the letter, said that Mr. Bisignano had personally intervened to get key DOGE officials involved at the agency, including one who was approved in the middle of the night. Senate Republicans quickly dismissed those concerns, stating he addressed the allegations during the hearing and in writing. “He has stated that he does not currently have a role at the S.S.A. and was not part of the decision-making process led by the acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, about S.S.A. operations, personnel or management,” Senator Crapo said in a statement. For Mr. Dudek, the appointment caps a chaotic run, which began when Mr. Musk’s DOGE team arrived at the agency. A former fraud adviser in middle management for the Social Security Administration, Mr. Dudek had an unlikely rise to the role of acting commissioner, overseeing an agency of roughly 57,000 employees. Mr. Dudek was given the position when Michelle King, the previous acting commissioner, left abruptly after refusing to give DOGE representatives access to sensitive private data about millions of Americans. During Mr. Dudek’s short tenure, the Social Security Administration announced plans to cut 12 percent, or 7,000 employees, from its staff and issued stark new policies that were quickly rolled back — all while field offices experienced more technology interruptions and a rise in phone wait times. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT In April, the White House began to use some of the agency’s closely guarded data systems as a tool for immigration enforcement, a decision that is likely the Trump administration’s most controversial for the S.S.A., and steers it away from its mandate as a social insurance program. Over the past two months, there were several other dizzying changes. At one point, in response to a judge’s order, Mr. Dudek threatened to shut down the system used for all of the Social Security Administration’s work — only to back down hours later. He also cut contracts to the state of Maine in retaliation for a spat its governor got into with Mr. Trump. That move was walked back as well. Social Security employees have described the environment as chaotic, and morale, which was already strained because of heavy workloads spread among a thin staff, as low. The American Federation of Government Employees General Committee, and its local unit representing Social Security workers, said in a statement that they “appreciate Mr. Bisignano’s vow to ‘run the agency in the right fashion,’ as long as that means a course correction from January.”

So you’re about to graduate from college. Congratulations. But now you have to think about finding a job and, sooner than you may prefer, starting to repay your student loans. It’s especially important to understand your options, experts on student borrowing say, because many aspects of the federal student loan system are in flux. The system, which has always been challenging to navigate, is only now creaking back into full operation after years of Covid-era pauses on payments and collections. And court challenges to a low-cost repayment option, along with program changes floated by the Trump administration and House Republicans, have created a potentially confusing environment for new graduates. “They’re graduating into a time of uncertainty around what their repayment options will look like,” said Abby Shafroth, the director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT One repayment plan, known as SAVE and introduced by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., significantly shrank monthly student loan payments depending on a borrower’s income and household size. But the program is in legal limbo because of a court challenge by two groups of Republican-led states. It’s unavailable now, and may not remain an option. Three other, less generous “income-driven” repayment plans that link monthly payments to a borrower’s income remain available, but details could change. A measure under review in the House would reduce the various income-linked options to just one. “Borrowers are getting dropped into a chaotic system that’s changing in real time,” said Winston Berkman-Breen, the legal director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group. The upshot is that new graduates should keep in mind that the repayment plan they initially choose may look different in the coming months or years, depending on court decisions, government action and the effective date of any changes. “They should focus on what’s available now and which plan makes the most sense now,” Ms. Shafroth said, “and expect they may have to revisit options later.”

Last month, four Republicans from the House and Senate sent letters to the presidents of Ivy League schools demanding years of data about how they decide what to charge. These institutions, the letters said, “establish the industry standard for tuition pricing, creating an umbrella effect for all colleges and universities to justify higher tuition costs than they could otherwise charge in a competitive market.” In fact, no more than a few dozen other schools can command Ivy League prices from a high percentage of their students and their families. Every other private institution — and most public ones — compete brutally on price up until the May 1 reply date each year (and sometimes afterward). The average tuition discount among private colleges is now over 56 percent for first-time, full-time students. Those discounts — which often come in the form of merit scholarships — can make a six-figure difference in what families pay over four years. This aid is different and often less predictable than the need-based kind that depends on a family’s income and assets. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT The driving force behind college pricing is not some evil genius at Harvard or Penn. Instead, it’s a series of algorithms developed quietly over decades by consulting firms operating just out of sight. The two biggest — EAB and Ruffalo Noel Levitz, or RNL — are owned by private equity firms. To understand how all this happened — and how things really work today, for families and the financiers hoping to make money off this opaque system — we need to turn the clock back 50 years to when an unlikely character took over the admissions department at Boston College and upended everything.

After a five-year reprieve, the Trump administration restarted forced collections on federal student loans in default, which could include garnishing a portion of borrowers’ paychecks. With collections in place, the last piece of the student loan machinery has been turned back on, officially ending pandemic-era relief, which began when President Trump paused federal student loan payments in March 2020. The Biden administration extended the freeze several times, and payments resumed only in October 2023. But the rules were relaxed for the first year of repayment, and borrowers weren’t penalized for slipping behind until last fall. Now that those penalties have begun to appear, borrowers who fell behind are beginning to see their credit scores plunge, including more than five million borrowers in default and many millions more projected to be on the precipice. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT At the same time, the Biden-era repayment program known as SAVE — which ties a borrower’s loan payments to income and household size — has been frozen since August, with its eight million enrollees’ payments on hold. That plan is stuck in legal limbo, an evolving situation that threatens to upend the income-driven repayment plans that came before it. Here’s where things stand for borrowers. Where can I learn more about my loan status? If you log in to your account on the federal website, StudentAid.gov, you’ll find your dashboard with details on how much you owe and the status of your loans — whether they are in repayment, for example, or default. If it’s the latter, you may also see a warning at the top. Make sure your contact information is up to date both there and with your loan servicer, which is the company the government hired to administer your loans. My loans are in default. What happens next? The Education Department began forced collections on loans in default on May 5, which means any tax refunds and other federal payments can be withheld and applied toward your debt. (Seizures from recurring payments, like Social Security benefits, won’t start until early June.) This summer, the government said, it will send out required notices that pave the way for garnishing a portion of borrowers’ paychecks. If you are among the five million borrowers in default, or those with loans 270 days or more overdue, you should expect to receive an email from the Federal Student Aid office in the next couple of weeks, urging you to get in touch with its Default Resolution Group. That unit can help get your loan situation sorted. There are serious consequences if the loans remain in default, which means the balance becomes immediately due. The government can grab your entire tax refund (as long as it doesn’t exceed your debt amount) and up to 15 percent of monthly Social Security retirement and disability benefits and your paycheck. (The Treasury Offset program has a more comprehensive list of what’s eligible and what’s off limits.) Besides collections, the default will damage your credit standing, which can make it more difficult to qualify for an apartment rental or impossible to obtain new loans. How can I get out of default? You can pay the loan in full, but that’s not an option for most people. More feasible alternatives include consolidating the defaulted loans or rehabilitating the loan, which requires making nine out of 10 consecutive “reasonable” payments, determined by loan holders using a formula. It’s usually easiest to consolidate the defaulted loan (as long as you have more than one loan) into one federal Direct Consolidation Loan, which pays off the old ones. But there are drawbacks, especially for borrowers in income-driven repayment plans (which forgive any remaining debt after a period, generally 20 years, of payments tied to your income and household size). After consolidation, you lose any credit earned toward loan forgiveness. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT I can’t afford my payments. What are my options? Income-driven repayment plans, a decades-old safety net that ties the size of your monthly loan payments to your income level, is often a go-to option in times of financial distress. But there are fewer income-driven options at the moment: The entire landscape was shaken up after two groups of Republican-led states challenged the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, the more affordable income-driven repayment plan introduced by President Biden. Given the high cost of the program, the states argued that Mr. Biden had overstepped his authority, and the courts temporarily froze SAVE while the merits of the case are decided. Remaining programs include: The Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Based Repayment (I.B.R.) plans, where monthly payments are 10 percent of discretionary income for 20 years, at which time any remaining balance is forgiven* (or after 25 years for graduate borrowers in I.B.R.). The Income-Contingent Repayment (I.C.R.), a more expensive plan, where payments are 20 percent of discretionary income for 25 years, after which any remaining debt is wiped away.* (I.C.R. is the only income-driven plan available to federal parent PLUS loan borrowers.) (*At the moment, loan forgiveness is on hold for all income-driven repayment plans with the exception of I.B.R. For more explanation on the complicated status of all income-driven plans right now, see the next question.) Beyond the income-driven programs, there are repayment plans that can lower your monthly obligation: graduated repayment, where payments start lower and rise over time, and extended repayment, which lowers the monthly payment by lengthening the loan term. The Education Department’s Loan Simulator can help borrowers evaluate and compare which type of repayment plan would work best for their situation. Have the rules of income-driven plans changed? Some have, at least temporarily. A February court order upheld the temporary pause on the SAVE plan, but also expanded it by calling into question a longstanding feature of income-driven plans: loan forgiveness, which usually occurs after at least two decades of payments. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said the Education Department lacked the explicit authority to forgive loans as part of the Income-Contingent Repayment plans, a significant departure from how the statute governing the plan had been interpreted for about 30 years. The litigation, which is ongoing, prompted the administration to pause forgiveness on the PAYE and I.C.R. plans since, like SAVE, they were created by the Education Department. Borrowers in the I.B.R. plan, which Congress enacted, can continue to have their loans forgiven. (Payments on PAYE, SAVE and I.C.R. are counted toward I.B.R. plan forgiveness if the borrower enrolls in the I.B.R. program.) Several other newer rules were changed or clarified, too. Separately, a married borrower in an income-driven plan who files a separate income tax return from their spouse will not have to include the spouse’s income in the calculation determining monthly payments, experts said, but the spouse can be included in family size. Where did the counter showing my progress toward forgiveness go? Starting in January, borrowers in income-driven repayment plans were able to see their progress toward loan forgiveness on their StudentAid.gov dashboard. But with the appellate court’s order temporarily banning the SAVE plan and parts of other income-driven plans, the Education Department said it had removed the payment counter for the time being. Borrower advocates say it is still possible to find the counter once you’re logged in, however, and they suggest taking screenshots. “This is important so that they know where they stand and how much longer they should expect to have student loan bills,” said Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project, “and so they have evidence of their credit toward forgiveness in case there is an effort to quietly roll it back.” Are loan servicers processing income-driven plan application requests? The Education Department said it had not processed applications for enrollment in any income-driven repayment plans since August, but it is working with federal student loan servicers and expects processing to begin again in May. Still, it could take a while, depending on your situation: Roughly 1.9 million applicants are in the queue. I’m enrolled in an income-driven plan. Do I need to recertify my income? Since income-driven plans base payments on earnings and family size, participants have been required to update — or recertify — their income each year (or face negative consequences). If you were due to recertify on or after Feb. 21, 2025, your recertification date has been extended one year. (The Federal Student Aid office’s website has more specifics.) The department said that recertification would eventually be automated, and that it would release more information this week. What other ways can I get a reprieve — or lower monthly payments? Borrowers can temporarily pause payments through deferments or forbearance. Review the terms carefully, because these programs have different eligibility requirements and consequences, largely because of the way interest is treated. Simply consolidating your loans can also lower your monthly payments by extending the repayment period, but there are drawbacks. You may have a higher interest rate on all of your debt and end up paying more overall. I’m in the SAVE plan. What’s the status? The Saving on a Valuable Education plan is still winding its way through the courts, and enrollees have been in limbo since last summer. Their accounts are in forbearance, which in this case means payments are on hold and interest is not accruing. Can I still make progress toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness? The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is still open to government and nonprofit employees such as public schoolteachers, librarians and public defenders. After 120 qualifying payments are made, any remaining balance is wiped out. But most borrowers need to be enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan to be eligible for loan cancellation. Borrowers in SAVE are currently in an interest-free forbearance — and they cannot earn payment credits toward forgiveness. But the other available income-driven plans — I.B.R., I.C.R. and PAYE — are still compatible with Public Service Loan Forgiveness. What if I’m in P.S.L.F. but I’m stuck in the SAVE plan? You have a couple of options. You can switch to one of the other income-driven repayment plans, which will allow you to earn credit toward forgiveness. Alternatively, you can ride out the SAVE forbearance and use what’s called a “buy back” to get credit for those months once you have completed 120 months of eligible employment, said Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a group that provides free guidance to borrowers. Using the buy back option, borrowers later make payments that are at least equal to what they would have owed under an eligible income-driven plan for the time they were paused in forbearance. (Be sure to document and keep copies or snapshots of everything, including your work history with your eligible employer as well as any qualifying payments and recertification applications.) Trump wants to shut down the Education Department. What does this mean for my loans? President Trump instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin to shut down the agency, but he cannot do so without congressional approval. He also announced that the student loan portfolio would move to the Small Business Administration, a change that would also require approval. But as my colleague Stacy Cowley reported, Congress has shown no interest in that idea. For now, the loan portfolio remains at the Education Department. Where can I get more help? You can try the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a group that provides free guidance to borrowers. The Student Debt Crisis Center has a resource center and holds workshops, and some states, like New York, may offer services to assist borrowers. If you’re having trouble getting the help you need with your servicer, some states have student loan ombudsman offices that can help. The Federal Student Aid office also has a list of frequently asked questions on its website.