Tier 2 upgrade not applied — $150 spent, 9+ days since first payment, still on Tier 1

Gemini API
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Hi team,

I’m experiencing an issue with my Gemini API tier upgrade. My account meets all the documented requirements for Tier 2, but the upgrade has not been applied.

Current status:

  • Billing account is linked and active

  • First successful payment: May 1, 2026

  • Total amount paid: $150 (exceeds the $100 requirement)

  • Days since first payment: 6+ days (exceeds the 3-day requirement)

  • Current tier shown in AI Studio: Tier 1 (Paid)

What I expected: According to the Rate Limits documentation, Tier 2 requires $100 paid to the billing account and at least 3 days since the first successful payment. Both conditions have been met. The documentation also states that subsequent tier upgrades should take effect within 10 minutes.

What I’ve checked:

Request: Could someone please verify my account status and confirm why the automatic tier upgrade has not been triggered? If additional information is needed (billing account ID, project number, etc.), I’m happy to provide it.

Thank you for your help.

2

Update: The issue has resolved itself — my project is now showing Tier 2 in AI Studio.

The upgrade happened approximately 4 hours after I posted this thread. I did not make any changes to my billing account, payment method, or project configuration during that time.

Timeline summary:

  • April 28: First successful payment of $150 processed

  • May 7: Posted this thread (still showing Tier 1)

  • May 7 (~4 hours later): Tier automatically upgraded to Tier 2

It’s unclear whether the upgrade was triggered by a manual review from the Google team or by the system’s automatic upgrade finally catching up. Either way, the total delay from meeting the requirements to actual upgrade was 9+ days, far longer than the “within 10 minutes” stated in the documentation.

For others experiencing the same issue: it may be worth posting on this forum with your details, as that seems to help surface the problem.

Marking this as resolved. Thanks.