If a club offers a free trial on a paid membership, here's exactly what happens behind the scenes.
Starting a trial
When you select a membership with a free trial, your card details are captured right away, but you are not charged at this point. Your trial start and end dates are set based on however many days the club has configured.
When the trial ends
On your trial end date, PLAI attempts to charge your card for the membership fee (minus any discount) plus a joining fee if one applies. Every successful charge also includes a fixed 50p transaction fee, shown as its own separate line, never blended into the membership or joining fee amounts.
For ongoing subscriptions, the joining fee is only ever charged once, on that first post-trial payment. Every payment after that is just the membership fee plus the transaction fee.
If the charge fails
If your card is declined after the trial ends, the full amount due shows up as an overdue payment in your Wallet, and your membership status reflects that.
If you cancel during the trial
Important: Cancelling before your trial ends means no payment is ever taken, and your club access is revoked immediately. If you want back in later, you'll need to register for the club again from scratch, you won't be able to simply reactivate the cancelled membership.
How it shows up in Treasury
While you're in your trial period, the club's Treasury shows the scheduled charge as Pending / Free Trial, and it doesn't count toward the club's received balance yet. It moves to Paid on success, Cancelled if you cancel during the trial, or Failed / Overdue if the post-trial charge doesn't go through.
FAQ
Does a discount code apply to my trial?
Discounts apply to the membership fee only, never to the joining fee or the transaction fee. See "How Discounts Apply to Memberships and Joining Fees" for the full breakdown.
Can I extend my own trial?
No, trial length is set by the club admin when they create the membership, not something a member can adjust.