abcdabcd

Does anybody know of a place online where I could purchase the Netherlands Vodafone prepaid sim card? I only found one on ebay but, it cost $20 when the same sim card with the same initial top up credit costs 5 euro on the vodafone site but, I don't think they ship to the u.s. since the order page is only in Dutch and only allows for netherlands address, postal code etc..

Or if it can't be found online, does anybody know if those vodafone prepaid sims are available in Schiphol airport? Or where would the closest place from Schiphol be to get those sim cards?


Thanks

mrcamp

Unless you need to know the numbr before you leave, you may just wait to get there to buy it.

aidanc

Have you tried the English version of their webpages...

http://www.vodafone.nl/english/prepaid/

You can also call them (in English) and see what they have to say about the airport.

There are some land-side shops - I suspect the Airport Telecom Shop will be able to sell you a SIM card. Give them a call in advance and check...

http://www.schiphol.com/web/show/id=...2?filter1=1562

Aidan

weekilter

If you're landing at Schiphol you're likely going somewhere in the Netherlands. If you're going into Amsterdam there are lots of places you could get a Voda SIM. Either a Voda store on Kalverstraat or other locations or a place like Phonehouse or Bel Company.

BigFlyer

If you will be using mainly voice (not data), Lebara is a much better deal:

http://lebara.nl/en/index.php

pennywern

Fully agreed with BigFlyer. Lebara's expensive for data (because there are no unlimited/bulk packages; you pay by the KB always), but for voice calls, especially if you're calling internationally, they're fantastic. For example, €0,06/minute to direct-dial the USA.

The pricing is a bit confusing because all per-minute prices (except for those fixed by EU law, such as certain roaming charges) are quoted at double what you actually pay. That is, the web site says USA calls are €0,12/minute but since you get 2x the credit you pay for, the real cost is €0,06/minute.

flyer0409

I usually get my SIMS on eBay. That said, to probably will cost you a bit more than if you wait until you get to Amsterdam.

I also used Lebara for voice only.

hotstepper

If I use a Blackberry, Vodafone has prepaid blackberry sim cards available on their website. Are these also available in the Schipol stores? or only the actual vodafone stores?

KLflyerRalph

There is a shop specialized in Telecom at AMS. They'll certainly be able to help you. Otherwise you'd have to buy at a Vodafone store. But better is to buy a Albert Heijn prepaid card, available at any AH supermarket.

BigFlyer

That may or may not be good advice, depending on whether hotstepper intends to use data, whether the bulk of the calls will be in the Netherlands, whether an English language website is important (e.g., Lebara), and other factors.

hotstepper

Yes, i do plan to use data and the bulk of calls would be in the NL. I plan on being there from Jan - March, with some travel within the EU (but travel would have minimal calls, and more SMS use; and maybe data if it is not too expensive).

I think I tried to use a Lebara sim card last year, and the data wouldn't work...

BigFlyer

I think you need to then look at the websites of the various carriers and compare. When comparing, be mindful of the fact that some of the carriers (like Lebara and Heijn) give an automatic bonus of doubling or more than doubling your topup, so you need to take that into account when comparing. For example, Lebara at a minimum doubles all topups (depending on the amount), so the effective rates are at least half of what the website shows.

Data worked fine for me on Lebara, although I had to manually input the APN settings.

If you look at Vodafone, in addition to the a la carte data, they have "Blox", where you pay a certain amount for a block of data.

I haven't done the comparison, but I would suggest comparing Vodafone to the MVNOs - e.g., lebara.nl, lycamobile.nl, ortelmobile.nl, and telecom.ah.nl.

KLflyerRalph

AH offers you E90 of credit when you buy E30.
Data is always expensive prepaid, and slow unless you have a contract.
AH offers you 1 MB for E0,05.
With Vodafone you'd have to take a separate "bloxx" to have cheaper internet, with fixed amounts.

BigFlyer

Is that 5 cents per MB net (i.e., 15 cents but it comes out to 5 cents because you are getting E90 for E30), or is the published tariff 5 cents per MB?

KLflyerRalph

Think it's 0,15 as published fare but I'm not very sure.