First time in amsterdam

Your cellular provider may have an international plan. I have Verizon and pay $40 for a month

Who is your carrier? What are the terms of your plan? Who did you buy your phone from? Have you paid it off in full, or are you still paying it off? And what phone model is it?

Sorry to answer you question by asking more questions, but only with these details can people give you correct answers.

For instance, if you have T-Mobile, many of their plans include international use. With my Simple Choice Plan, in Amsterdam I get free data (slow speeds), free texts, and calls at 20 cents per minute (free if I use Wi-Fi calling). With my mother's prepaid T-Mobile plan, she has to pay for texts, data, and calls at (much) higher rates, but her phone would also work abroad. However, if you have Metro PCS, their plans do not work in Europe - even though they use T-Mobile's network domestically.

All of that is about using your US plan in Europe. If you phone is unlocked, you can buy a Dutch SIM card and have a Dutch phone plan. However, if your phone is from certain carriers and is not paid off, it may be locked and cannot be unlocked, so you're not able to use a Dutch SIM card. If your phone is paid off, you can get it unlocked; if your phone is bought from Verizon or some other places, it is not locked.

Yes, it's complicated. But give us as many details as possible, and we can then give you specific answers.

I have a Moto g5plus phone purchased outright, un;ocked, thru Consumer Cellular.

I did a bit of digging on the Consumer Cellular website, and found the following:

If you are traveling abroad, you will not be able to use the Consumer Cellular service network for texting. Our service is designed to only work within the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii). Once you leave the U.S., your phone should not work. If by chance it does, the rates are completely unregulated and set by the country in which you are traveling.

So, you can't use your US plan while abroad. But, you can use it on Wi-Fi as you do here. This means you can communicate by using various apps. Again, from the Consumer Cellular website:

Here’s a tip for smartphone users: while in airplane mode, connect to a Wi-Fi network and use an App like Google Hangouts, Skype or FaceTime (for iPhone). These apps allow you to make voice or video calls back to the U.S. at no charge. Testing this functionality before leaving the country is also recommended.

So that's one option. However, whoever you want to talk or text with has to have the same app as you.

If you want to be able to make calls and send texts to anyone, and/or want to be able to do these things while not on Wi-Fi, and/or if you want to have 4G data while not on Wi-Fi, you can get a Dutch SIM card. Since your phone is unlocked, you just take out the Consumer Cellular SIM and put in a Dutch SIM, and voila! you have a Dutch phone. This means you will get low rates for calls within the Netherlands, low rates for calls to other EU countries, likely low rates for calls to the US, and probably more data than you can use in the time you are there. However, it also means that you have a Dutch phone number; if anyone wants to call or text you, they need to know how to make an international call, and they have to pay international rates. Depending on their plan, this can be cheap or VERY expensive.

That's the basics. If you're interested in a Dutch SIM, let us know. Also let us know what it would be for (data or just calls; calls within Holland or calls back to the US or both; etc). Someone can then help you figure out the best deal (just as in the US, the local deals in various European countries change all the time).

How long are you going you lucky traveler?

We'll be there over a week.