Originally Posted by
crewmeal
Surely you still have 'check your baggage in' for weight purposes. The carrier may need to charge excess baggage where necessary.
Whilst you can check in online with most carriers, some still require visa checks prior to departure, depending on the passenger and the country they're going to. Australia springs to mind as a friend of mine who was told he had an electronic visa in his passport, on checking in found he didn't have one. The travel agent had cocked up and he was charged extra by the carrier prior to departure.
'Baggage Drop Off' is the term in vogue, and even that is being automated by some carriers (e.g. Easyjet at Edinburgh). The horror of having to stick on your own baggage label. Presumably if your bag is overweight, an alarm goes off and the harassed-looking member of groundstaff looking after 4 baggage points has to deal with it.
Don't often travel outside Europe, so visas aren't usually an issue, but passport and/or ID checks are done at gate, unless you are checking baggage with a human being.
Flights to USA still have pre-check-in ID and Visa checks