There are plenty of reasons to love Columbus - affordable housing, a steady economy, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and, let’s be honest, the ability to escape CMH for a vacation.

But before you pack your bags, be sure you have the best resources at your fingertips.  The following websites will make traveling a snap.

Instead of searching for flights on agencies like Expedia or Travelocity, try itasoftware.com.  Developed by MIT scientists, the search engine is not biased towards certain airlines.  Though you cannot purchase tickets directly, the site provides an impressive list of flight options for a given itinerary.  Other sites, including Kayak and Sidestep, also perform a comprehensive search of numerous online travel agencies and airlines.  And don’t forget Columbus’ own Skybus, now offering flights to Chicago, Philadelphia and Niagara Falls/Toronto.

Since the best seats on a plane vary by airline and aircraft, head to SeatGuru to ensure you are sitting pretty on your next flight.  And to determine the right frequent flier program to earn those oh-so-elusive freebies, compare plans at WebFlyer. 

Planning to leave our shores?  Itasoftware.com offers international flight information, but lowcostairlines.org will find no-frills flights in any part of the world.  WhichBudget also does a great job finding low-cost fares, especially in Europe, while Vayama brings many international flights and schedules to the web for the first time.

Overseas travelers can find reliable health and vaccination information for more than 220 countries from tripprep.com.  While healthy, avoid an international getaway when stores and sites might be closed by visiting bank-holidays.com.  It lists bank holidays around the world, as well as elections, announced strikes, festivals, sports events and more.

Finally, since life can turn complicated faster than you can say sayonara, compare the costs and coverages of trip insurance providers at insuremytrip.com.

Bon Voyage!