tripkey or OV- chipkaart

The OV chip card and Tripkey can both be used on all public transport in the whole of the Netherlands. The OV chip card is designed for long-term users. The Tripkey is made for visitors.
As far as I understand the Tripkey has a one-time fee of € 3,50, and a deposit of € 15,00. The OV chip card must be loaded and needs a balance of at least € 20 to be accepted for the train. After use the balance can be returned at the railway station until an amount of € 30.
I've never used it, but it looks like the Tripkey is the card you should go for.

I've used the Tripkey card and it works great for foreigners who do not have a Dutch bank account. You don't have to reload it because it is linked to your credit card account, but you get the same commuter discounts that a Dutch citizen gets using his/her OV-chipkaart. The €3.50 charge to open your account is all that you have to pay extra. Tripkey did not charge my credit card every time I used it. At the end of my trip, after I returned the card, I got an itemized statement and a one-time charge on my American credit card account. So it really is a no-brainer. Remember you have to pick up the card in person--you can do it at the Hertz desk at Schiphol Airport.

John - we used the OV-chipkaart this winter for a lengthy stay in Netherlands. As Amsterdam is very walkable we knew we would only have one or two tram rides in town. I used the nsnl.com site to research round trip ticket prices to cities I knew we would visit to get a total of how much money I would need to load on the card. I bought our cards at the NS desk at Schiphol and loaded it all at once because I knew for sure we would travel and use up most of that amount. You don't want to have more than 30euro balance on the card when you cash it in at the end of your trip, yet you need a balance of at least 20E to ride the train each time you check in, or 4E to ride the tram. The OV-chipkaart works on all trams and trains in nl.
Tripkey looks like a very useful method of paying for your transportation. I did look at their page and there is a little notice that rent is only charged on days of use but nowhere does it say how much that fee is. I would want to know that. Someone on here who has used it might be able to tell you that or you could contact Tripkey yourself. What I don't like about Tripkey (for me) is the inconvenience of having to go to the DoubleTree or other hotel to pick up and drop off the card since our next trip does not include Schiphol.

Thank you so much to all three of you for your replies. Yesterday, I went to tripadvisor site and read a long extended thread of back and forth concerning tripkey. From the sounds of it, and given the advice now of someone who has actually used it, I am leaning very much towards getting us tripkeys. It sounds very convenient. I can register for them here at home, pick them up at the airport when we arrive, use them for all public transit, never have to worry about balances etc., and then just return them back at Hertz at the airport when we depart. What really had me concerned was paying transaction fees to my credit card company each time we boarded a bus or train. Since it sounds like they only charge the card after we turn it in, then there should only be one transaction fee with the credit card company. It almost sounds too good to be true! We aren't leaving until early June, I think that I will wait to register for the tripkeys until just before leaving for the trip, just in case any additional information comes forth that might sway my decision. Thanks again for all your advice.

nowhere does it say how much that fee is
I asked them. It's only the one-time € 3,50; no daily costs. (It's probably an outdated text. They started with a daily fee, but skipped it.)

After reading their site I still don't know if they have child's rates . I was informed on this forum that a child's ticket only costs 3.50 euro , cheap enough , however you have to buy that ticket every time you take the train .

Children up to 11 yrs can travel on a Railrunner ticket, valid the whole day for € 2,50. You travel on the Tripkey; your children on their Railrunner tickets. Buy them at the station. More information here.

The info on tripkey is very useful. We need to register online. 3 of us travelling in first week of May. Do we need to have 3 different registrations to get 3 cards?

I suppose so, but why don't you ask them? They've got somewhere a contact link.

I used Tripkey last year. Each person traveling needs his or her own card. By the way, I got stopped by the Transit Control officers in The Hague and worried that the Tripkey card might not pass inspection--but it did just fine.

I've made the decision to go with anonymous OV-chipkaarts rather than tripkey on my next trip. I read with interest the threads on TA, and when I emailed tripkey about collecting the card at a VVV (TI) in Utrecht listed on their website they told me that the VVV no longer supply them and that I needed to go to the Hertz at Schiphol. That's disappointing, and they say they are updating their website.

They seem to me to be a nice startup, with plenty of startup problems and growth issues. They strike me as quite amateur. I would think that they may be a good idea for North Americans who arrive at Schiphol and return from there but of dubious help to others. I hope that they pick up their game and take this really good idea professional.

I'm also cautious because at the end of use they are returned to the issuing location or through the mail while still active. If they were misused during that phase you could be liable to pay for a lot of travel you didn't use.

So, at this point, it is the OV-chipkaart for me, even though they cost more.