Subscribing to the Drive Add-on

Buying the Drive Add-on takes about a minute if your card is already on file, a couple of minutes if you need to enter one. This guide walks through the flow end-to-end, including what to expect when 3D Secure (your bank's two-factor verification for online purchases) kicks in.

Before you start

A couple of things to have ready:

• Your TrekMail account in good standing. The account needs to be active (not suspended) and your mail subscription needs a valid payment method. The Add-on bills to the same payment method as your mail plan.
• A rough idea of the size you want. Drive Add-on Pricing & Plans covers the tiers if you're undecided. You can resize later, so don't agonise — pick a starting point.
• Your billing currency. This is locked once you subscribe. You can't switch a USD subscription to EUR mid-flight without canceling and re-subscribing. If you want a non-USD currency, switch your account currency before the Add-on checkout.

Opening the slider

In the dashboard sidebar, click Plans (or Billing → Plans). Scroll past the mail-plan tiles to the Drive Add-on section. You'll see a slider showing 250 GB at the left and 100 TB at the right, with snap-points at every supported size.

Drag the slider to the size you want. The price updates live to show:

• The monthly cost
• The yearly cost (with the 17% discount applied)
• The estimated annual savings if you pick yearly

There's a toggle to switch between Monthly and Yearly billing. The default is Monthly; pick Yearly if you're confident you'll need this storage for at least eight months.

Picking a currency

Above or near the slider you'll see your account's current currency (USD by default). The slider re-prices in your local currency as you drag. Supported currencies:

USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, CHF, KRW, SGD, AED.

If your account is set to a different currency than what you want for the Add-on, change the account currency first in the dashboard's billing settings before continuing. Once you subscribe, the Add-on's currency is locked.

Hitting Subscribe

Click Subscribe (or Get this size). One of three things happens next:

Path 1: card on file, no 3D Secure required

If you've subscribed to a paid mail plan before and your card supports immediate charges (most US-issued cards in this category), the charge goes through silently. You see:

• A success toast at the top of the page
• The Add-on slider replaced by your current Add-on state, showing your size, period, and the next billing date
• Your storage pool expanded immediately — the Storage card on the dashboard refreshes within a minute

You're done.

Path 2: card on file, 3D Secure required

For European and many international cards, your bank requires authentication on every charge above a small threshold. TrekMail handles this transparently:

• A modal opens with a Stripe-hosted payment iframe
• Your bank's authentication challenge appears (push notification to your bank's app, SMS code, or 3DS web challenge)
• You complete the challenge
• The modal closes and the charge completes

The success state is the same as Path 1. From your perspective, the only difference is the extra 30-second 3DS step.

Path 3: no card on file, or card needs updating

If you don't have a payment method yet, or if your existing card has expired or been declined, you're routed to the Stripe payment form first:

• Enter card details (number, expiry, CVC, billing address)
• Stripe validates the card with a small reservation charge ($0 in most countries; some countries require a tiny verification charge that's immediately released)
• If 3D Secure is required, the challenge runs
• The Add-on charge then completes

After this initial setup, future renewals and resizes happen via Path 1 or Path 2 — you don't re-enter card details.

What you'll see right after

The Plans page swaps from the empty-Add-on slider to a "you have an Add-on" card with:

• Current size (e.g. "5 TB")
• Billing period (Monthly / Yearly)
• Currency (e.g. USD)
• Next billing date
• Cancel and Resize buttons

Your dashboard's Storage card refreshes within a minute to show the expanded pool. Open Drive (/drive) and any new uploads can fill the new capacity.

A confirmation email arrives within a few minutes with the Stripe-issued invoice PDF attached. Save this for your accounting.

What if the charge fails

A few common failures and their fixes:

"Your card was declined." Bank-side decline. Common causes: insufficient funds, card-locked-for-online-purchases, bank flagging the charge as suspicious because it's a new merchant. Call your bank or try a different card.

"3D Secure failed." The authentication step timed out or you entered the wrong code. The charge is reversed; click Subscribe again to retry. Don't worry about double-charges — failed 3DS attempts don't bill.

"Currency mismatch." Rare, but can happen if your account currency was changed mid-checkout. Refresh the Plans page and try again with the corrected currency.

"Subscription already exists." You already have an active Add-on. Use the Resize button instead of Subscribe — see Upgrading or Downgrading Storage.

If a failure persists across multiple cards or doesn't make sense, contact support with the timestamp and we'll trace it.

Storage availability after purchase

The new capacity is available immediately once payment clears. You don't need to wait for the next billing cycle, restart anything, or re-log-in to webmail. The pool number on the dashboard updates within about a minute. Drive uploads that previously hit the cap can resume.

Next month onwards

The Add-on bills automatically on each billing date. You'll see a charge in your card statement and a new invoice in your email inbox. No action required from you unless something fails.

If your card expires or is replaced, update it on the Billing page before the next renewal. Failed renewal payments retry over a few days, then the Add-on cancels (covered in Canceling Drive Add-on).

A few "what if" questions

Can I have multiple Drive Add-ons stacked? No. Each account has at most one Add-on subscription. To get more storage, resize the existing one upward.

Can I gift the Add-on to a different account? No, the Add-on is tied to the account that bought it. If you need to move accounts, both accounts have to coordinate the cancel/re-subscribe.

Does the Add-on come with a free trial? No. The Drive Add-on does not have a trial period. Most accounts can validate fit using the included plan storage; if you need more space, the Add-on starts billing immediately on subscribe.

Can I subscribe with a tax-exempt account? Yes, Stripe handles tax exemptions when you provide your VAT ID or local tax registration in the billing details. Contact support if you have specific compliance requirements (B2B EU reverse-charge, etc.).

What if I just need 50 GB more? The smallest tier is 250 GB. We don't sell smaller increments. Below 250 GB the per-GB price would be unrealistic relative to the operational overhead of running the subscription.

What's next

• Upgrading or Downgrading Storage — once you're subscribed, how to resize.
• Canceling Drive Add-on — if circumstances change.
• Drive FAQ & Troubleshooting — billing-related questions, refund policy, currency lock details.
• Drive Add-on Pricing & Plans — the price ladder if you need to revisit.