Before you hop on a plane for a vacation, make a plan.

Laura Davis at AAA says it should include travel insurance.

"It protects you prior to leaving and it protects you while you are on your vacation," she said.

Travel insurance will add an estimated 6 percent to 10 percent to the total cost of your trip.

For car rentals, check to see what kind of insurance you have on your personal vehicle. Comprehensive coverage, in most cases, will cover the rental. Also, check your credit card agreement to see if using it provides additional coverage. That can save you between $15 and $40 a day.

Web sites, such as like insurancemytrip.com and quotewright.com allow consumer to compare prices and policies of insurers.

For a family of four on a $3,000 air-only trip, full coverage costs between $76 and $366, and that includes trip interruption and cancellation, baggage loss and medical coverage.

With cruise insurance, check the fine print. Some policies will not cover the entire trip.

"Some of it will cover you up until the day you leave and others will cover you once you leave and have traveled, Davis said.

She also advises: Find out if the company will cover a missed trip due to a pre-existing medical condition.

Finally, most travel insurance policies will not allow customers to cancel a trip for fear of contracting swine flu.

So if you have concerns, try to purchase or upgrade to a "Cancel for any reason" policy.