Traveler Clay Moss was trying to buy a single bottle of water at Newark Liberty International Airport when the self-checkout screen asked him for an 18% tip. The $6.49 bottle came with a suggested $1.17 gratuity at a self-service CIBO Express store in Terminal C, and Moss removed it before paying, TODAY reported on Oct. 26.
His video of the moment, posted Oct. 16, set off a wide debate over tipping at machines with no cashier in sight. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, told TODAY that tipping prompts have no place at self-checkout kiosks and that it expects the option to be removed.
What the Screen Showed at the CIBO Express Kiosk
According to TODAY’s Oct. 26 report, the transaction for the $6.49 water automatically added an 18% tip, or $1.17, to the total. Moss, whom TODAY identified as Dr. Clay Moss, took the tip off before finishing the purchase.
The screen also carried a second, smaller line. In fine print, it listed an “Employee Benefits Surcharge” that was described as “not a gratuity payable directly to staff,” TODAY reported. TODAY did not give the dollar amount of that surcharge.
Moss shared the clip in a video on TikTok under the handle @drclaymoss, and it quickly spread beyond the app. The New York Post covered it on Oct. 21, describing a stunned airline passenger asked to tip 18% at a self-checkout kiosk. By Oct. 26, TODAY said the video had been viewed millions of times across TikTok and Instagram.
Travelers heading out for the holidays are already watching every extra charge, from snacks at the gate to bag fees, and a guide to carry-on suitcases that skip the checked-bag fee shows how quickly those add-ons stack up on a single Thanksgiving trip.
How Commenters Split Over the Tip Prompt
One commenter quoted by TODAY sided with Moss, writing that “tip culture has gotten out of hand,” a line that echoed the frustration of travelers who already pay airport prices for basics like water.
Not everyone saw the prompt as pointless. TODAY highlighted a commenter who argued that someone still had to stock the shelves: “That water bottle didn’t walk itself to the cooler.” That view points to the workers behind a self-service store, who unpack deliveries, fill the coolers and keep the shelves straight even when nobody stands at a register.
The debate fits a broader frustration over small charges that add up on the road. Lists of travel blunders that turn a vacation into a stress fest often include overspending in terminals, and readers who track their spending closely will recognize airport water on lists of everyday expenses that quietly drain a budget.
What the Port Authority and CIBO Express Said
The Port Authority gave TODAY a direct answer. “Tipping prompts have no place at self-checkout kiosks,” the agency said, adding that it had contacted OTG, the concessions company behind CIBO Express, about the kiosk. The agency said it expected the tipping option to be removed immediately and that it would check whether other kiosks were prompting customers for tips.
Representatives for CIBO Express did not immediately respond to TODAY’s request for comment, the outlet reported.
The Port Authority also explained the separate surcharge line. According to TODAY, the agency said the surcharge helps fund annual wage increases for airport workers and helps concessionaires cover labor costs, under a policy approved in December 2024.
Shoppers who prefer to see every line before paying have a habit in common with people who always check the menu before going to a restaurant: they like to know the full price up front. Packing snacks and an empty bottle to refill past security is one of the standard tricks for traveling cheaply.
The Wage Policy Behind the Employee Benefits Surcharge
The Port Authority’s board approved the wage policy on Dec. 12, 2024, after a month-long public comment period, Airport Improvement magazine reported. It covers workers at Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia.
The airport minimum wage had been $19 an hour as of September 2023. The new policy added three increases of $0.75, in January 2025, July 2025 and January 2026. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, raises are set to follow a three-year moving average of the Northeast Consumer Price Index, and the wage is scheduled to reach $25 an hour by September 2032 if inflation has not already pushed it there, according to the magazine.
To help concessionaires pay for it, the Port Authority allowed airport shops and restaurants to charge up to 15% above comparable off-airport street prices, up from a 10% cap. They may also add a separate employee benefits and retention surcharge of up to 3% of a customer’s pre-tax bill, Airport Improvement reported. That is the kind of surcharge shown in fine print on Moss’s screen, which is separate from the 18% tip suggestion.
For flyers, the practical upshot is that the 18% suggestion can be set to zero, while the surcharge of up to 3% is built into the store’s pricing rules.
Why Terminal C Draws So Much Traffic
The store sits in one of the busiest buildings at the airport. Terminal C opened in 1988 and is operated by and for United Airlines as its hub, with 68 of the airport’s 125 gates, according to Wikipedia’s Newark Liberty entry. The airport handled about 47 million passengers in 2025, the entry says.
With Thanksgiving travel weeks away, the Port Authority’s promise to check other kiosks means more travelers could soon see whether the 18% prompt is gone. For now, the fine-print surcharge remains part of the airport’s approved pricing rules, while the tip button is the part the agency has said should disappear.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Bohao Zhao – CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Commons
