A $6.49 bottle of water sparked outrage after a traveler was asked to leave an 18% tip at an unattended airport kiosk. Officials say the prompt will be removed immediately.
Tipping fatigue has reached a new level after a self-service checkout at Newark Liberty International Airport asked a customer to leave an 18% tip while purchasing a bottle of water.
The incident triggered a wave of criticism online, reigniting debate over America’s increasingly controversial tipping culture.
Clay Moss, a doctor who shares health-related videos on social media, posted an Instagram video showing himself purchasing a $6.49 bottle of water at an unattended kiosk. When the checkout screen presented an 18% tipping option, he questioned who the tip was actually intended for.
“Who is this automatic 18 percent tip that I have to click out of for?” Moss asked. “Who am I tipping here? Is this what we’ve come to?”
‘Auto Gratuity at Self-Checkout Is Madness’
The video quickly drew comments from frustrated social media users, many of whom argued that tipping should be reserved for situations involving actual service.
“Auto gratuity in a self-checkout is madness,” one commenter wrote.
Another user joked that customers should be offered a “negative tip” option when a checkout experience becomes irritating.
The backlash comes amid broader dissatisfaction with digital tipping prompts, which increasingly appear at restaurants, coffee shops, retail counters and self-service kiosks.
A March study by restaurant technology company Popmenu found that nearly 80% of consumers believe tipping practices have become unreasonable. The study also found that 59% of consumers feel compelled to leave a tip when prompted by a digital screen, down from 66% in September 2025.
Airport Officials Step In
Following the online uproar, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it had contacted OTG, the hospitality company managing concessions at Newark Liberty International Airport, to address the issue.
“Tipping prompts have no place at self-checkout kiosks, and we have previously worked with OTG to ensure customers do not receive those prompts,” a Port Authority spokesperson told Nexstar.
The agency said it expected the tipping option shown in the video to be removed immediately and would check other self-checkout kiosks to ensure similar prompts were not appearing elsewhere.
Americans Are Growing Tired of Tipping Culture
The incident highlights a growing frustration among American consumers who say they are being asked to tip in situations where they previously would not have been expected to do so.
While digital tipping systems have made it easier to leave gratuities, critics argue that prompts appearing during routine transactions can create unnecessary pressure to pay more.
At Newark airport, the controversy has already prompted a response from officials. But the larger question remains: When a machine handles the entire transaction, who exactly is the customer tipping?
