There was nobody standing behind the counter, no bag being handed over, no small talk about the weather — just a touchscreen at a self-service CIBO Express store in Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport, asking Dr. Clay Moss whether he wanted to add a gratuity. His total for a single bottle of water came to $6.49, plus an automatically added 18% tip of $1.17, which he promptly deleted before checking out.
Moss posted about the encounter on social media on Oct. 16, and the video has since been viewed millions of times on TikTok and Instagram, according to TODAY.com. In the clip, Moss reacts to the prompt with visible disbelief. “Look at this. This is what the world's come to nowadays,” he says, before pressing further: “Who is this automatic 18% tip — that I have to click out of — for?” As NBC New York reported, the moment turned a routine airport snack run into a referendum on where tipping culture has drifted.
A Surcharge, Not a Tip, Port Authority Says
Beyond the tip line, the kiosk screen also displayed what's labeled an Employee Benefits Surcharge on Moss's purchase. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told TODAY.com that charge is not a gratuity payable directly to staff. Instead, the agency said the surcharge is meant to help provide annual wage increases for thousands of airport workers and help concessionaires offset labor-related costs, and that it was approved in December 2024.
Still, the tip prompt itself is a separate matter, and the Port Authority didn't mince words about it. A representative said tipping prompts have no place at self-checkout kiosks and that the agency expects the option on the kiosk shown in Moss's video to be removed immediately. The Port Authority also said it had contacted OTG, which manages concessions at the airport, about the kiosk, and that it would work to remove the tipping option and confirm that no other self-checkout kiosks are prompting customers for tips. Representatives for CIBO Express did not immediately respond to the outlet's request for comment.
This Isn't the First Time Newark's Kiosks Have Asked
Moss's experience isn't an isolated glitch. Per View from the Wing, travelers have reported tip prompts at Newark self-checkout kiosks going back to at least May 2023, including one account of being asked to tip on a transaction with nobody staffing the register. A similar episode was detailed by One Mile at a Time, which described a traveler prompted to tip 15% to 20% on a $15.99 chicken salad and a $4.70 candy bar bought through self-checkout. Separately, according to kioskmarketplace.com, a woman at a Cibo Express Gourmet Market kiosk at the airport was shown a tip screen after buying a $14.99 chicken Caesar wrap and a $6.39 bottle of coconut water, with suggested tips of 15%, 18% and 20% alongside a no-tip option.
Fatigue With the Tip Jar Is Spreading
Moss told TODAY.com that what made the moment so absurd to him is that the system has removed the human interaction but kept the social expectation. He said he's happy to thank someone for good service, but described his sudden viral moment as an unexpected side quest he never saw coming.
The frustration lines up with broader data on how Americans feel about the expanding reach of tip requests. A Pew Research Center survey of 11,945 U.S. adults found that 72% said tipping was expected in more places in 2023 than five years earlier, and about the same share opposed businesses adding automatic service charges or tips to customers' bills. More adults opposed than favored businesses suggesting tip amounts on checkout screens, and only about a third said it was very or extremely easy to know whether or how much to tip. Separately, TODAY.com reported that restaurant technology platform Popmenu found 40% of consumers were tipping less in 2026 than in 2025, citing tipping fatigue, tighter budgets and rising prices.
For now, the fix at Newark rests on the Port Authority's word that the prompt should disappear from the kiosk at the center of Moss's video. Whether it already has, or whether other self-checkout machines across the airport carry the same tip screen, remains something the agency says it still needs to confirm.
