diff --git a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/error_handlers/default_error_mapping.py b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/error_handlers/default_error_mapping.py
index 45716768f..f951614f1 100644
--- a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/error_handlers/default_error_mapping.py
+++ b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/error_handlers/default_error_mapping.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
     429: ErrorResolution(
         response_action=ResponseAction.RATE_LIMITED,
         failure_type=FailureType.transient_error,
-        error_message="HTTP Status Code: 429. Error: Too many requests.",
+        error_message="Rate limit exceeded (HTTP status code 429). Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits.",
     ),
     500: ErrorResolution(
         response_action=ResponseAction.RETRY,
diff --git a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/http_client.py b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/http_client.py
index 3a0a62739..abed9cf0f 100644
--- a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/http_client.py
+++ b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/http_client.py
@@ -293,10 +293,19 @@ def _send_with_retry(
 
             return response
         except BaseBackoffException as e:
-            self._logger.error(f"Retries exhausted with backoff exception.", exc_info=True)
+            if isinstance(e, RateLimitBackoffException):
+                self._logger.error("Rate limit retries exhausted.", exc_info=True)
+                raise AirbyteTracedException(
+                    internal_message=f"Rate limit retries exhausted. Exception: {e}",
+                    message="Rate limit exceeded and retries exhausted. Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits.",
+                    failure_type=e.failure_type or FailureType.transient_error,
+                    exception=e,
+                    stream_descriptor=StreamDescriptor(name=self._name),
+                )
+            self._logger.error("Retries exhausted with backoff exception.", exc_info=True)
             raise AirbyteTracedException(
                 internal_message=f"Exhausted available request attempts. Exception: {e}",
-                message=f"Exhausted available request attempts. Please see logs for more details. Exception: {e}",
+                message=f"Exhausted available request attempts. Exception: {e}",
                 failure_type=e.failure_type or FailureType.system_error,
                 exception=e,
                 stream_descriptor=StreamDescriptor(name=self._name),
diff --git a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/rate_limiting.py b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/rate_limiting.py
index 926a7ad56..9d6b0a15d 100644
--- a/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/rate_limiting.py
+++ b/airbyte_cdk/sources/streams/http/rate_limiting.py
@@ -146,7 +146,9 @@ def log_retry_attempt(details: Mapping[str, Any]) -> None:
                 f"Status code: {exc.response.status_code!r}, Response Content: {exc.response.content!r}"
             )
         logger.info(
-            f"Caught retryable error '{str(exc)}' after {details['tries']} tries. Waiting {details['wait']} seconds then retrying..."
+            f"Rate limit hit after {details['tries']} tries. Waiting {details['wait']} seconds then retrying. "
+            f"Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits. "
+            f"Last error: {str(exc)}"
         )
 
     return backoff.on_exception(  # type: ignore # Decorator function returns a function with a different signature than the input function, so mypy can't infer the type of the returned function
diff --git a/unit_tests/sources/declarative/requesters/error_handlers/test_http_response_filter.py b/unit_tests/sources/declarative/requesters/error_handlers/test_http_response_filter.py
index 87e522d4a..b271135c0 100644
--- a/unit_tests/sources/declarative/requesters/error_handlers/test_http_response_filter.py
+++ b/unit_tests/sources/declarative/requesters/error_handlers/test_http_response_filter.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
             ErrorResolution(
                 response_action=ResponseAction.RETRY,
                 failure_type=FailureType.transient_error,
-                error_message="HTTP Status Code: 429. Error: Too many requests.",
+                error_message="Rate limit exceeded (HTTP status code 429). Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits.",
             ),
             id="test_http_code_matches_retry_action",
         ),
diff --git a/unit_tests/sources/streams/http/test_http.py b/unit_tests/sources/streams/http/test_http.py
index 7512c3722..865f571e5 100644
--- a/unit_tests/sources/streams/http/test_http.py
+++ b/unit_tests/sources/streams/http/test_http.py
@@ -222,7 +222,8 @@ def get_error_handler(self) -> Optional[ErrorHandler]:
     send_mock = mocker.patch.object(requests.Session, "send", return_value=req)
 
     with pytest.raises(
-        AirbyteTracedException, match="Exception: HTTP Status Code: 429. Error: Too many requests."
+        AirbyteTracedException,
+        match="Rate limit exceeded \\(HTTP status code 429\\). Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits.",
     ):
         list(stream.read_records(SyncMode.full_refresh))
     if retries <= 0:
@@ -316,7 +317,7 @@ def test_raise_on_http_errors_off_429(mocker):
     mocker.patch.object(requests.Session, "send", return_value=req)
     with pytest.raises(
         AirbyteTracedException,
-        match="Exhausted available request attempts. Please see logs for more details. Exception: HTTP Status Code: 429. Error: Too many requests.",
+        match="Exhausted available request attempts. Exception: Rate limit exceeded \\(HTTP status code 429\\). Try decreasing the number of workers to stay within API rate limits.",
     ):
         stream.exit_on_rate_limit = True
         list(stream.read_records(SyncMode.full_refresh))