Getting a Dutch SIM Card When You First Arrive + Managing Your US Number with Tello

The easiest thing you can do at least in regards to securing a Dutch phone number

You cannot go to a KPN or something similar with a passport and setup a phone plan. So what does that leave you with getting a SIM when you arrive in the Netherlands?

Easy, a SIM only plan that you prepaid plans.

LYCAMobile had the easiest option for us. We wandered over to a phone shop on the first week we arrived and got a SIM only for €10 per month for 10 gb per month. They always gave me 15 gb per month because of bonus offers.

When we took our trip through Europe in June we simply purchased an international plan and that worked out just fine for us.

My only advice is to setup your reloads to automatic so you don’t lose coverage while you’re out and about. You can stop these anytime you want and it’s easy to do on their website.

Now depending on your phone and your situation you may need to use a physical SIM or an eSIM.

Here’s what we did. Remember all situations can be different.

We ordered Tello SIMs and ported our numbers from Mint Mobile to Tello after we arrived in the Netherlands.

I had my Tello SIMs sent to my friend and she simply sent me pictures of each one.

I converted those US physical SIMs to eSIMs via Tello after my numbers ported from Mint. This process actually took longer than I expected to fully work so make sure to give yourself time. Porting took hours but converting the Tello number to our numbers from Mint took longer for their system to do. Ours took weeks unfortunately. It probably would have been less time had I been more proactive about it.

I pay for the no data + 100 minutes plan for $5 per month to keep my US phone number.

Now back to Lyca Mobile. When you finally get your residence permit you can go to KPN and get an actual phone plan that will be more reliable. The Lyca network is not that reliable to be honest.

We took our Lyca SIMs to KPN and they ported our Dutch numbers over immediately and set us up with a plan. I ended up paying way too much for a plan that was too much for our family needs. We were oversold to be honest but just know if you’re anything like me and don’t like commitment you can go with a pay by month plan where you’re not tied in. It does cost a little more but that’s worth it for my flexibility needs.

I think we ended up spending around €79 per month for 3 plans which was too much data. I work in marketing so I know unlimited is really only a sales psychology tactic to get you to spend more money. I went on the website after month 2 and downgraded the plan to around €55 per month which is more suitable for us.

We ended up with physical SIMs for KPN and eSIMs for Tello and all of our phones (iPhone 11s and a 12) allow for dual SIMs.

This is what worked for us and if you’re in need of having both maybe this solution will work for you too.

Until next time,

Heather