Using a free account and getting timed out even with the first question in a new session.

A new five hour session will start and my very first question gets me the popup stating that I ran out of messages and tells me to wait another five hours. Happened last night in a new first message in a new session. Then I tried this morning, and happened again on the first message.

Is this a bug or is it normal? And if it's normal, is there a way to mitigate it?

Also, is there any other way of paying them other than a credit card?