I know you dont want to hear this, but on this side of the Pond, I'd say 85% of checkins are now self-check-in at the kiosk. Much faster than waiting for some bored twit at the desk to do you while she worries about her nail job due at 3pm. Ongoing flights check in fine. Baggage checks in fine, prints the tag, and the one bored person sticks it on your bag and sends you off to the TSA nazis. For International some still work manually, others you put in your passport stuff, then a uniform verifies it and off you go.
This is a step forward, folks!