Bumping and Checked Baggage, in 2008
 

It's been several years since "9/11" and it appears that some airlines are now lax about baggage going without the passenger on board but...

1. Nowadays if I volunteer, does/should the gate agent find out whether I checked some baggage?

2. If I checked some baggage, does that lessen the chance I will be involuntarily bumped?

(I most often fly United and Delta.)

Sometimes they ask, sometimes they bang away for a few seconds and say sorry, you have checked bags, other times they bang away and see it wasn't loaded yet so they just call to have it put aside.

Yes, the gate agent should check, and yes, there have been times I've been told sorry, you checked bags, we will first take those who didn't.

I never check bags and gate agents tell me that I go to the head of the volunteer list when traveling internationally. If they use my seat they don't want to have to go to the time and trouble of pulling my luggage off overseas flights.
In April I answered the call and volunteered to give up my seat on Delta (jfk to dca). Another pax was not eligible for consideration as a volunteer because he had checked baggage and this was the domestic portion of an overseas trip. I originated overseas too but I had no checked baggage.
I believe that if your itinerary is purely domestic it makes no difference if you have checked baggage or not.

I never quite understand why it is such an issue to get a bag off a plane if a passenger is not traveling??

I see the obvious logistics argument... (i.e. bag in Houston, passenger in London wanting bag returned... and variations thereof.)

But in terms of security, surely this is absolute nonsense to waste handling agents time when they could be doing something much more productive (Oh i don't know - something like braking straps/handles and burying priority bags at the bottom of the pile.)

Anyway, just reading between the lines here - but, by the fact that the bags are exrayed, rooted through by handlers and security; combined with the fact that the days of terrorists with waxed moustaches, trenchcoats and trilbys sneaking a ticking bag onto a plane and hurrying out the fire exit of the terminal, are long gone.... is it really necessary to remove the bag?

If your airport have x-ray machines (CTX's) then you do not need to travel with your bags. Pulling your bags off a flight is not that simple. Bags are bulk loaded as the ramp agents receive them and to find a particular bag can mean off loading all of the bags loaded to find yours and then re-loading the entire bin, which can take alot of time.

If you are traveling international, it is a major issue with passengers arriving without their bags due to Custom's inspections, possible bonding of your bags and so on. We don't get to take your bags off the carousel and take them to our office without jumping thru alot of hoops.