Door Prize

"I apply vinyl bumper stickers—the kind that peel off without leaving a mark—onto our rental cars. With the car dressed up like it's a local, we don't have to worry about thieves who target tourists." —Chris Manos, Centennial, Colo. Get more family-friendly travel tips right on your mobile phone! Scan our QR code, here, and then check back each month as we add more tips.

"After spending two weeks in Alaska—one on land and one on a cruise—we had collected more souvenirs than we'd anticipated. Worried about overweight-luggage fees at the airport, we hauled our suitcases to the cruise ship's gym and weighed them on one of the scales. We kept rearranging the contents until each family member's bag weighed less than 50 pounds (but barely!)." —Nancy Boehmer, Bridgeton, Mo. Get more family-friendly travel tips right on your mobile phone! Scan our QR code, here, and then check back each month as we add more tips.

"We all know to adjust our thermostats before a vacation, but did you ever think about your water heater? Right before my last trip, I looked at my heater and was surprised to find a 'vacation' setting. It keeps the water warm but not as hot as you'd need to run the washing machine or take a shower." —Ceil Schlosser, Cincinnati, Ohio Get more family-friendly travel tips right on your mobile phone! Scan our QR code, here, and then check back each month as we add more tips.

QR Code FAQs What is a QR code? The QR code is basically a physical link to a digital destination. Anyone with a smartphone can scan and read QR codes with the click of its camera. By scanning the codes, you can access images, websites, and text. How do I scan the QR code? First you'll have to download a QR code "reader" or "scanner". There are tons of these available for free download in many of the app stores for different devices. Here's how to find them: 1. Open your app store, such as iTunes, Blackberry App World, or Android Market and search for "QR code" or 2. Check out http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software for a ton of links and reviews for QR code–readers. How do I use the QR code reader? Just open the reader app, hold your camera over the QR code, and you'll be taken directly to our great collection of family friendly travel tips. What kind of tips will I get? Here's one example: WEIGH TO GO "After spending two weeks in Alaska—one on land and one on a cruise—we had collected more souvenirs than we'd anticipated. Worried about overweight-luggage fees at the airport, we hauled our suitcases to the cruise ship's gym and weighed them on one of the scales. We kept rearranging the contents until each family member's bag weighed less than 50 pounds (but barely!)." —Nancy Boehmer, Bridgeton, Mo. Scan the code above to get more tips, and come back as we add six new tips each month!