The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Fixing a Failed PayPal Annual Membership

First off, don’t panic, I know it looks like a lot of steps, but that’s just because we don’t want to leave anything to chance.

You can avoid all this rigmarole by changing your membership from PayPal to credit card by clicking on the button below.

That said, this will increase your annual payment to our current rates (US$36) from whatever you are paying today.

Still want to stick with PayPal? Let’s make that happen.

Using These Instructions

When you click on the link to PayPal below, this page will stay open in another tab in your browser so you can refer to it or, if you prefer, you could even print it out.

One tip before we get going. About halfway through this process, PayPal will tell you you are done. But if you stop at that point, all of your time will be wasted. So please stick with us all the way to the end of these instructions.

Login to PayPal

Click to login to PayPal (top right corner of the PayPal screen):

  • Your PayPal email address and password may (and the password should) be different from the one you use on our site.
  • If you have forgotten your PayPal email address and/or password, use the “Having trouble logging in?” link, under the login button.

Fixing The Failed Payment

  • Click on the little cog wheel as shown below (red circle):
  • The screen will change, then click on “Payments” in the white menu.
  • The screen will change, then click on the “Manage automated payments” button.
  • You will see a list of all your subscriptions.
  • Check for one that has “Attainable Adventure Cruising Ltd” under “Merchant”. That’s us.
  • You might have to click on “Show Inactive” (red circle below) to find us.
  • Click on Attainable Adventure Cruising Ltd.
  • The screen will change as shown below.
  • Click on the icon of a pencil and paper next to your credit card number (blue circle above):
  • If the icon is not there, it means that PayPal suspended your subscription after the third attempt to bill you. If so, the easiest thing is to re-subscribe: CLICK HERE. But, if you are a glutton for punishment, email Phyllis and she will do her best to work with you to reactivate your account.
  • Assuming the icon is there, and you clicked on it, you will see a screen like this:
  • The card with the blue dot next to it is the one that failed. Make a note of the last four digits.
  • If you have other payment sources, like a bank account or another credit card, you can just click on one of them, click on Save, and you are done.
  • But if, as is more likely, the credit card that failed is the only payment method you have registered with PayPal, it sucks to be you…just kidding.
  • Click on “Link a new card or bank account” just under the Save button.
  • You will see a new screen that looks like this:
  • Click on the “Link a debit or credit card” (in the red box above).
    • PayPal is about to tell you you are done. But you are NOT done! And if you stop when those…er, fine people at PayPal say you are done, you will have just wasted all the time you have put into this. So please promise me you will read on…I’m begging here.
  • OK, moving on, you will see a screen that looks like this:
  • Fill it in with your card details and click on “Link Card”.
  • You will see a screen that looks like this:
  • YOU ARE NOT DONE…oops, sorry, I’m shouting.
  • I know you think that “Your Credit Card is Linked” and “Done” means that you are done. That’s because you are a logical and smart person. But they don’t have people like you at PayPal. What they mean is that you are done linking your card to PayPal. But you have still not linked it to AAC. Not to worry, we will do that now.
  • Click on Done (even though you are not…done).
  • Click on the little cog wheel thingy again.
  • Click on “Payments” in the blue menu. (I know, you already did this, humour me.)
  • The screen will change, then click on the “Manage automated payments” button.
  • Click on Attainable Adventure Cruising.
  • The screen will change as shown below:
  • Note that the credit card shown (blue circle) is still the failed one. (I just had to point that out, in case you thought I was the idiot here…rather than the person at PayPal who designed this.)
  • Click on the little pen thing next to Payment method (blue circle above).
  • Select the NEW card you just entered.
  • Scroll down and click the Save button.
  • Within one to five days PayPal will bill you for the renewal and send you an email, and then your AAC membership will automatically reactivate.
    • Yes, you read that right, all the work you just put in does not immediately reactivate your AAC membership. And yes, that’s crazy…but remember, this is PayPal we are dealing with here. Sorry, we would fix it if we could…but this is PayPal.
  • Wait…you are STILL NOT DONE…
  • Go and have a large adult beverage, or whatever your sin of choice is. Anyone who successfully navigates PayPal deserves anything they damned well want.
  • Now you are done.

We Are Here For You. If you need any further help email us at moc.duolcsnagrom@ofni