Buying SIM-card?

[Brad Piff]

Hey, do you guys recommend buying a local sim-card while in Amsterdam and is it easy to do so? Possible to purchase at Schipol? Also, how much is your standard plan with data/calling etc. I'm assuming it will be cheaper and Im a little scared of the potential roaming charges.

[Marco]

Hey, do you guys recommend buying a local sim-card while in Amsterdam and is it easy to do so? Possible to purchase at Schipol? Also, how much is your standard plan with data/calling etc. I'm assuming it will be cheaper and Im a little scared of the potential roaming charges.

Roaming charges will kill you. Lebara is good for calling/SMS and they now have prepaid data where you pay for 250m but get 1gig. You can get those in the airport but you may have to go online to activate.

[Balou]

Just get it from one of the shops in the center. The SIM is usually 10 but you get 7,50 in credit. It should be as easy as buying a pre paid SIM from where you're from.

[dude65]

I've been using Vodafone prepaid SIM cards for a few years now. I'm on my third now (the first one was deactivated when I didn't re-charge it for over a year, the third came in when I realized that my new phone now needs a micro SIM and the guy at the Phone House didn't find the tool to cut the regular SIM down to micro format)

Anyways... I used to always get the 9.95€ euro option for "a bunch of Internet" for a month. Last summer, I got 500 MB for a month (but was there for only two weeks, so no problems). This year, I noticed that Vodafone had cut the 10€ option down to 100MB per month, but doubled to 200MB due to "a special promotion". So that kind of pissed me off.

UNTIL I looked at the new basic prepaid pricing without any Internet add-ons. Turns out that now you basically pay a fee of 1€ per day and get 100 MB PER DAY. So for my two weeks in Summer, I'll get up to 1.4GB for 14€. If you go over the 100 MB per day, they charge by the MB. And it's easy because it's automatic, no need to text anything anywhere. Just hop in the Internet, they deduct 1€ and you're good for a day.

I was there last weekend and tried it out. Yep, it works.

[ineedflower]

Hey, do you guys recommend buying a local sim-card while in Amsterdam and is it easy to do so? Possible to purchase at Schipol? Also, how much is your standard plan with data/calling etc. I'm assuming it will be cheaper and Im a little scared of the potential roaming charges.

I will help you

[exceluk1]

If your phone is unlocked then i would highly recommend getting a Bliep sim. e10 with e10 loaded .e1 a day. Used everyday for maps and general surfing and fast enough
Can be purchased from the "carphone warehouse"
https://www.bliep.nl/

[dude65]

Yes, as of our vacation last summer, my recommendation is also bliep.

The deal (last year, didn't check recently) was

0,50€ per day for unlimited internet, but limited to 384 Kbit/s
1€ per day for unlimited internet, up to 3.6 Mbit/s

They have an app you can use to change the options. You can even turn shut if off for a day and turn it back on for the next day.

The best thing for me however, was another feature. We got 3 cards for myself and the kids (wife's phone was still SIM locked at the time) and when it was time to top up the cards, I only had to buy one 10€ thingie. Once you have that 10€ on your bliep account, you can transfer credit to other bliep accounts via the app. Awesome. With every other provider, you'd have to buy 3 x 10€ to top up 3 SIMs.

They use the T-Mobile network, so no issues with network quality.

[milehigh]

Who do you call locally while on Holiday?

Personally, I go on holiday to get away from it all. I keep my own phone in case of emergencies but I can't imagine needing a local number if I were only going to be away for a few days or even a couple of weeks. What do you use it for? I really am curious.

[cgarr04]

Who do you call locally while on Holiday?

Personally, I go on holiday to get away from it all. I keep my own phone in case of emergencies but I can't imagine needing a local number if I were only going to be away for a few days or even a couple of weeks. What do you use it for? I really am curious.

I don't think it's for calls - but for the internet so you can use GPS for directions, coffee shops, restaurants etc.

You can buy 1GB/per month internet for 15EUR from vodafone, and that would be much cheaper than using roaming internet on a foreign sim card in most cases.

[dude65]

Who do you call locally while on Holiday?
Personally, I go on holiday to get away from it all. I keep my own phone in case of emergencies but I can't imagine needing a local number if I were only going to be away for a few days or even a couple of weeks. What do you use it for? I really am curious.

I call NOBODY while I'm in Amsterdam. Except maybe Sama Sebo to make a reservation. Rarely anybody calls me.

These days, it's all about having internet access.

- maps
- train schedules
- museum, restaurant, whatever information
- email, chat
- posting photos
- sending friends weed porn or coffeeshop vibes via mail