OpenAI says a plan-change error cut some Codex and Work allowances on October 16, and it is adding $500 in credits to affected accounts. The explanation comes from an OpenAI Support email, shared in a post on X by @LuminaBench, that tells people who moved off the Pro 200 plan why their weekly usage allowance suddenly shrank.
Image credit: @LuminaBench on X
What OpenAI's email says went wrong
According to the screenshot, OpenAI Support wrote to explain why a Codex and Work usage allowance "may have unexpectedly dropped by a significant amount on October 16." The email describes a two-step problem:
After a user moved from Pro 200 to a lower-priced plan, an error kept the higher weekly allowance from the previous plan in place.
When OpenAI corrected the error to match the current plan, usage already accumulated that week counted against the lower limit. The account could then show much less weekly allowance remaining, without any advance warning.
OpenAI says it "should have handled the transition more carefully" and apologises for the disruption to people's work.
OpenAI is adding $500 in credits (12,500) that expire January 20, 2027
The email adds credits to the account as compensation. The screenshot shows the figures and terms:
Item | Detail in the email |
|---|---|
Credits added | $500 worth, stated as 12,500 credits |
Implied rate | $0.04 per credit (our arithmetic: $500 ÷ 12,500) |
Relationship to weekly allowance | Separate; the regular weekly allowance will continue to match the current plan |
Expiry | January 20, 2027 |
Contact | support@openai.com for questions about usage or credits |
Because the credits are separate from the weekly allowance, they do not restore it.
Who is affected
The email addresses people who moved from Pro 200 to a lower-priced plan and then saw their Codex and Work allowance fall on October 16. That is the only group the message describes.
The only source for the email is the screenshot shared on X. OpenAI's status page lists no incident, though its uptime figures are aggregate across tiers, models and error types.
What to check on your account
If your weekly allowance dropped sharply on October 16:
Plan history. Did you move from Pro 200 to a cheaper plan before that date? That is the situation the email describes.
Your inbox. Look for an email from OpenAI Support about your Codex and Work usage allowance.
Credit balance. Check whether 12,500 credits were added to your account and whether the expiry shown matches the email.
Weekly allowance going forward. The email says your regular weekly allowance will continue to match your current plan.
One scope note: the email only covers plan-change cases. Other users have publicly reported sudden Codex allowance drops around the same time, for example in an open issue on the Codex GitHub repository, with no mention of a plan change. OpenAI has not said whether the same cause applies to them, so don't assume this email's explanation or credits cover you if you never changed plans.
Our take
OpenAI made a mistake here, and this email is how it is fixing it: it names the error, apologises for the abrupt correction and adds credits to make up for the lost usage.
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