Wikivoyage talk:Currency/Archive 2007-2010

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Markup for euro

I'm noticing that sometimes people use the html markup code "€" and sometimes the character itself "€". Is there advantage to using one or the other? Dollar signs and pound signs are always by character for example, and when I edit I'd rather see and use the € symbol than the "€" markup as the latter is messier. any opinions?? (WT-en) psychofish 15:22, 10 July 2007 (EDT)

The character is better for the reasons you state, it's just not available on all keyboards (like mine). Feel free to change any amp-euros you see. (WT-en) Jpatokal 22:03, 10 July 2007 (EDT)

The € character is not on my keyboard either, but can easily be accessed by hitting Ctrl-Alt-4. Does this advice qualify me as a computer geek? (WT-en) Jnich99 13:14, 16 May 2009 (EDT)

Critique

• The first section says that "Wrong: $100". Is that a typo, cause I see nothing wrong there?

• For long numbers, I'm sympathetic to eliminating commas since that is not a universal scheme, and commas can be confused with decimal points. But spaces are used when wrapping text, and it looks bad to wrap in the middle of a number:

Disneyland is filled with long lines and admission will cost $1
000.99 for a group of ten people.

Thanks for writing this up! -- (WT-en) Colin 15:59, 24 February 2006 (EST)

Country code?

It says "all other currencies use the currency code assigned to it" -- does that mean the ISCO country code and not the currency code? I noitced changes being made to the currency on Bombay (Rs to INR?) and Montreal (CDN? -> CAN), is this correct? (WT-en) Majnoona 17:57, 24 February 2006 (EST)

Just to be more specific, are we going for the ISO 4217 or ISO 3166-1 ? (WT-en) Majnoona 18:01, 24 February 2006 (EST)

Ordinary travelers tend not to see ISO 4217 codes frequently, but "customary" symbols and abbreviations tend to meet travelers more often. ISO cannot make its own standards mandatory.(WT-en) Jusjih 01:00, 24 February 2011 (EST)

Unfortunately the "customary" symbols (apart from recent symbols like those for the euro, Turkish lira and Indian rupee) are often ambiguous when taken out of their native country. In an international context are we talking Oz, Canuck, Yank, Kiwi or Jamaica dollars when we see that familiar $ sign. That's why in an international context it's best to use the ISO_4217 codes that the representatives of the governments concerned consider are both unambiguous and acceptable. Anybody who travels is going to see these ISO 4217 conventional 3 letter codes on airport currency exchange boards and on currency websites; like the 24 hour clock and the metric system, it's just another thing that US travellers will need to get accustomed to. --W. Frank^email_talk 03:37, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

How often will travellers see such symbols other than on foreign exchange websites and currency exchange booths? I think that in case of possible confusion with the Japanese Yen, using "¥ (Chinese Yuan)" the first time is more user-friendly than "CNY". If a decision is made to use "CNY," I think that abbreviation should be explained the first time it's used, too. And I'm really not sure what the relevance of US travellers is here, other than that I happen to be American, but I'm just one person. Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:04, 10 September 2013 (UTC)

Symbols

First, I thank the anonymous hard-working person who started this page. Good idea!

Second, I've changed a couple of things. First, I said to use the local symbols, which is what travellers will encounter. All our prices are supposed to be in the local currency (see e.g. Project:accommodation listings), so the local symbols make the most sense. We've been doing this for most destinations so far, and it's been a recommendation on talk pages and in the pub.

I changed the section about billions to be more succinct.

Lastly, I changed the number format to use commas. --(WT-en) Evan 18:00, 24 February 2006 (EST)

I agree with using the local symbols! Thanks for the clarification... (WT-en) Majnoona 18:02, 24 February 2006 (EST)

Me too. The contributor who started this went and changed all "Rs." in the Bombay page to "INR", which is weird - only currency traders use INR. A normal traveller will see Rs. 100 and the like. --(WT-en) Ravikiran 18:40, 24 February 2006 (EST)

There's the ticket -- the traveller comes first. Whatever the traveller is going to encounter, use that whether it's a standard or not. -- (WT-en) Colin 18:42, 24 February 2006 (EST)

Request for additional content

Is there a symbol available for all currencies? If not, then what? (I'm dealing with Swiss francs at the moment, but the question is more general). I notice an example is given with 100 INR.

For ranges, should it be $10-$20, $10 - $20, $10-20, etc? I'd lean toward either $10-$20 or $10-20.

-- (WT-en) Colin 16:40, 3 March 2006 (EST)

Prices

Swept in from the Pub:

What is the best way to list prices for Hong Kong? Some parts of the articles use HK $, other just $ (HK being implied). Or should we be using HKD, HK$ or other variant? (WT-en) Hkpatv 03:24, 7 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Typically I think just go for "HK is implied". This is what seems to have happened in Australia with the dollar symbol. It will only not make sense in places where you can make transactions in two types of dollar (probably USD and local). This certainly isn't the case in Australia and sounds like it isn't in HK either.

Thanks for the input, that makes sense to me. I will update the curent prices in the HK section if I see any, unless someone tells me not to.(WT-en) Hkpatv 06:06, 24 Oct 2005 (EDT)

That makes the most sense to me. --(WT-en) Evan 09:51, 24 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Exchange rate suggestion

Swept in from the Pub:

Suggestion: Make a page for each currency (eg: USD) discussing where people from a country that uses that currency can travel to take advantage of good exchange rates (and where the rates aren't so favorable). For example, i'm American and when i travelled to Budapest and Prague i was amazed at how cheap everything was, leveraging the relative strength of the dollar at the time. 66.65.127.132 13:43, 29 Jan 2006 (EST)

In addition to being very complex (we'd need about 175 pages to cover every currency), this information can be rather volatile. If the Freedonian Libertino were officially devalued to half its previous exchange rate, that'd mean a lot of pages to update with the "Freedonia's a bargain" info... and then to periodically re-edit to correct this as inflation gradually raised prices to their former international value. If a country is chronically inexpensive for foreigners to visit, that's worth noting in the article for that country. But it usually has less to do with the currency exchange rate per se than it does with other factors (e.g. local standard of living, economic development). (WT-en) TVerBeek 19:34, 29 Jan 2006 (EST)

And the US dollar is not exactly strong. When the currency of a country fall, prices do not immediately go up. So for a while it will be cheaper to go to that country for everyone outside the country. So major shifts in exchange rates should be travel news. --(WT-en) elgaard 20:11, 29 Jan 2006 (EST)

Well, for example, the main page right now talks about how Kuala Lumpur has some of the cheapest 5-star accomodations in the world. It makes me wonder what other countries are like that. I guess i could go read every article on this site, but it would be easier if there were a list. 66.65.127.132 01:42, 30 Jan 2006 (EST)

Currency abbreviations - prefix, not suffix

eg: Corrected usage of Rs. - proper usage of the abbreviated form is as a prefix (rather than a suffix)

Any objections to this being explicitly mentioned in the guidelines? ~ 203.144.143.3 03:18, 4 January 2007 (EST)

Hmm. I was about to object, but I can't think of any currency where the prefix or abbreviation cannot be placed in front ($1, S$1, €1, ¥1, Rs.1, Rp 1, B1...). But then we should also specify that, if the currency name is used in full, it goes after (1 dollar, 1 euro, 1 yen, 1 baht, 1 rupee, 1 rupiah). (WT-en) Jpatokal 04:04, 4 January 2007 (EST)

Consistency is the hobgoblin of stable currencies

The current guideline says that the local currency should always be used: however, in basketcase countries like Cambodia and Indonesia, any larger transactions (like a hotel room) are invariably priced in dollars. I've thus added an exception to say so. (WT-en) Jpatokal 02:53, 26 March 2007 (EDT)

Scandinavia

ViMy brought up on the Copenhagen talk page that the use of DKK was not consistent with wikivoyage policies - problem is there is not established national standard abbreviation, but up to 6 different abbreviations used basically everywhere. Online (even on Danish websites written in Danish) DKK, which also happens to be currency code, seems to be the most widely used; The National tourist board uses DKK, so does big attractions like Tivoli and Legoland - even on the Danish version of their websites.

I also checked out some of the other major Scandinavian cities, and in Oslo, Trondheim and Tromsø people have used NOK. In Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö they have used SEK. In Reykjavik they have used ISK, and in Tallinn EEK are used. I think that is pretty overwhelming empirical evidence, that this is the form people find most natural when writing. (For those who don't know, all those countries currency are called kroner/kronor). --(WT-en) Stefan (sertmann) ^Talk 18:34, 15 May 2009 (EDT)

But do prices on the street really use "DKK"? Surely they say "100 kr", no?

Also, people tend to ape existing entries, so if one says "DKK", people will copy it. China was stuck on "RMB" for a long time, but after a Long March of Re-education Through Labor, it's been corrected to ¥ now. (WT-en) Jpatokal 23:48, 15 May 2009 (EDT)

On pricetag in Norway you will see kr used. On websites, aimed at visitor, NOK is often used. (WT-en) ViMy 11:44, 16 May 2009 (EDT)

I'd definitely recommend kr — it's more in line with policy, shorter, and less obtrusive. Similarities with other Scandinavian currencies shouldn't be a concern, since travellers should be able to assume that symbols used for multiple currencies (like $ or £) apply to the local currency. --(WT-en) Peter ^Talk 20:13, 16 May 2009 (EDT)

As Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic kronor are often confused, many visitors even believing they are the same currency, Wikivoyage should use the currency codes for these. /(WT-en) Blist 11:31, 23 July 2012 (EDT)

Thailand

It seems like official policy is to use "baht", but why not ฿? We use € for euros, so I don't see why Thailand should be an exception. ฿ is used everywhere. --(WT-en) globe-trotter 12:55, 9 January 2010 (EST)

It seems reasonable to me. That symbol is listed below, and if they use it in Thailand, it makes sense to use it here.(WT-en) ChubbyWimbus 13:09, 9 January 2010 (EST)

Yes, the symbol is even in the currency list down below. --(WT-en) globe-trotter 15:57, 25 January 2010 (EST)

Actually, ฿ is not very commonly seen in Thailand, the locals use บาท or บ. "Baht" is short, snappy and (unlike "euro") monosyllabic. (WT-en) Jpatokal 00:48, 26 January 2010 (EST)

I think it is very commonly seen, especially in Bangkok and other popular tourist areas. ฿ is the official sign, and it is also a standard character on any Thai keyboard. Obviously in rural areas they use the Thai alphabet more, but most tourists would go to Bangkok and the islands. --(WT-en) globe-trotter

Was there any agreement to this? I see on the project page it still recommends "100 baht in Bangkok" rather than to use "฿100" (or should it be 100฿, with a trailing ฿?) I'm editing the Chiang Mai page now and find that writing baht all the time results in some awkward prose at times. I'd prefer to use ฿. - (WT-en) Cardboardbird 09:31, 7 December 2010 (EST)

(de-indent after long pause in this discussion) 1) Colleagues tell me that ฿ is not very often seen in Thailand - บาท or บ is used instead. If you go to the websites of the Royal Mint of Thailand; the Bank of Thailand; the Thai Ministry of Finance; McDonalds Thailand; and Honda Thailand, you won't find a single occurrence of the symbol "฿". They use either the three letter ISO formulation, or a hyphen following the price, or "Baht" or "baht" (English) with the former probably predominating, or "บาท". 2) If it is used, Thai usage is to put ฿ after the amount - not before, as our guidelines dictate 3) Currency symbols, unlike the three letter ISO formulation can be ambiguous and sometimes do not render properly in print or on screen. If they are little used in their native country, as in this case, they will be of no use to the visitor too.

If we are not to change our whole policy to using the three letter ISO formulation (which would make for a gloriously simple and concise policy) then my suggestion is to stick with "baht" (all in lower case with no plural). -- Alice^✉ 06:19, 1 December 2012 (UTC)-- Alice^✉ 06:19, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Using more than one currency in an article

A clear and logical precedent was established with Bali for this and was discussed here. To quote Jani from that discussion "...my rule of thumb is simple: use the prices that the traveller will encounter". The Currency guideline was never changed though, and the matter has come up again with the star nomination of Nusa Lembongan. To me it is very clear. If a booking is made in US$ (for example) and the traveler is charged in US$, then that is the price we should show. I think this reality is much more important than the need for the neat and a tidy state of only one currency used per article. This is a bit different to the exception already given in the article for large amounts in unstable currencies (US$25 is not a large amount, nor is the Rupiah a particularly unstable currency). Any objections to changing the guideline to reflect this exception, which in reality is going to be quite rare? Alternatively, we can just record the exception on this talk page, so that users can be pointed to it when objections are raised to double currency use, as happened with Nusa Lembongan. --(WT-en) Burmesedays 23:15, 12 February 2010 (EST)