On the Spot: Should we buy euros ahead of time?

Question: With the euro somewhat down against the dollar compared with recent levels, does it pay for travelers to stock up on euros here before leaving for Europe later this year? We’re just tourists, not investors, and would rather pay cash for services and souvenirs when possible.

Joe Strapac

Bellflower

Answer: When it comes to managing finances, you’ll want to be more like France and Germany (financially solid) than like Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, the eurozone countries known collectively as PIIGS and whose finances are, shall we say, wobbly.

FOR THE RECORD:
On the Spot: The May 9 On the Spot column incorrectly reported that the euro, introduced in 1999, was at parity with the U.S. dollar. When it was introduced, the euro was valued at $1.17. —

When the euro was introduced in 1999, 1 euro equaled $1. Before long, parity was history. By July 2008, 1 euro cost about $1.57, meaning that a meal that cost you $30 in 1999 now would cost you $47, not accounting for inflation. Ouch.

Add to this the foreign transaction fees that credit card and ATMs tack on (usually 1% to 3%), and life on the Continent wasn’t exactly a cabaret, old chum, or if it was, it was a really expensive one.

So Strapac has a good idea about not running up a bill the size of the national debt, even though a euro goes for about $1.33 nowadays.

Taking a huge wad of cash still isn’t a good idea. Yes, you should get some money before you go (although probably at a less advantageous exchange rate than you would get at a bank abroad), but you’re going to be safer with a card of some sort, the experts I consulted said.

Christine D. Moriarty, a certified financial planner (a “financial educator,” she said) and the founder of Moneypeace.com, based in Vermont, thinks having a vacation account — it could be a bank or credit union savings account — is just the ticket. You can use the debit card from that account, and it should keep you from overspending because you (presumably) have a finite amount of money. This should not be, she said, the same account you use for household expenses. “Foreign travel may open you up to more chances of theft. Limit your exposure,” she said. But, she noted, make sure you have a credit card for emergency backup so that if, say, a volcano blows up and strands you, you’ll have something to fall back on. Not that this would ever happen.

Another option, said Joel Ohman, also a certified financial planner and founder of the website Creditcardchaser.com, based in Tampa, Fla., is the card that’s preloaded with money. (“Lonely Planet’s Best Ever Travel Tips” book mentions https://www.travelex.com and https://www.fairfx.com.)

The preloaded card is, he said in an e-mail to me, “a much better alternative to carrying around a lot of cash because if the card is stolen, then usually preloaded cards that are MasterCard/Visa-affiliated carry at least some measure of fraud protection.”

To which we say “oui” and “ja.”

Have a travel dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry.