diff --git a/server/src/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.ts b/server/src/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.ts
index 42927de2d..4ffb7a6b0 100644
--- a/server/src/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ import { Inject, Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
 import type { ConfigType } from '@nestjs/config';
 import { VALHALLA_RELAY_REQUEST_SCHEMAS, compactValhallaRequest, type ValhallaRelayAction } from '@trek/shared';
 
-/** Questions one user may put to the TREK Valhalla a minute, the browser and the server's own routing together. */
+/**
+ * Questions one user may put to the TREK Valhalla a minute, the browser and the server's
+ * own routing together. A day is one question of up to twenty stops however long it is,
+ * and the road trip rail asks one a second at most, so a whole trip fits; past it the
+ * refusal says when to come back (see `ask`).
+ */
 const QUESTIONS_PER_MINUTE = 60;
 /**
  * Questions the whole installation may put a minute. The TREK services allow
@@ -93,7 +98,9 @@ export class RoutingRelayService {
       RATE_WINDOW_MS,
       now,
     );
-    if (!allowed) throw new DomainError(429, 'Too many routing requests, try again in a minute');
+    // With the wait it asks for: the planner leaves the relay alone that long and routes
+    // the days with OSRM meanwhile, rather than for the ten minutes a refusal without one costs.
+    if (!allowed) return refusal(429, 'Too many routing requests, try again in a minute', RATE_WINDOW_MS);
     const withinInstallation = await this.rateLimit.check(
       'valhalla-relay-installation',
       'all',
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.test.ts
index 3be3333d1..c9630b966 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/nest/routing-relay/routing-relay.service.test.ts
@@ -124,12 +124,12 @@ describe('RoutingRelayService.ask', () => {
     expect(safeFetchAdminConfigured).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it('RELAY-006: holds every user to 60 questions a minute, each user apart', async () => {
+  it('RELAY-006: holds every user to 60 questions a minute, each user apart, and says when to come back', async () => {
     vi.mocked(safeFetchAdminConfigured).mockImplementation(async () => upstream(200, '{}'));
     await oneByOne(times(60), () => relay.ask(1, 'height', { shape: [{ lat: 47, lon: 11 }] }));
-    const refused = await relay.ask(1, 'route', ROUTE).catch((err: unknown) => err);
-    expect(refused).toBeInstanceOf(DomainError);
-    expect(refused).toMatchObject({ status: 429, message: 'Too many routing requests, try again in a minute' });
+    const refused = await relay.ask(1, 'route', ROUTE);
+    expect(refused).toMatchObject({ status: 429, retryAfter: '60' });
+    expect(JSON.parse(refused.body.toString())).toEqual({ error: 'Too many routing requests, try again in a minute' });
     expect((await relay.ask(2, 'route', ROUTE)).status).toBe(200);
     expect(safeFetchAdminConfigured).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(61);
   });