Allan Hirsch flies several times a year, sometimes for work and sometimes for fun. Almost always, he checks a bag.

In the past, he has always felt relatively secure about handing his belongings over to the airlines.

"I have always been under the assumption that they are responsible for the luggage once they take control of it and give you a luggage receipt," said Hirsch, a 59-year-old sales rep. "By accepting my luggage, they are taking responsibility for its care."

Boy, was he ever wrong. But I don't have to tell him that.

Last month, Hirsch flew to Orlando, Fla., and back. Upon returning to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Hirsch found one wheel and a handle on his suitcase wrecked. He reported the damage right away to AirTran Airways.

"I went into their office by the baggage carousel and explained the damage," Hirsch said. "They stated that they were not responsible, but would give me a $25 voucher. This was not satisfactory, and I turned it down."

That turned out to be the least of his problems. When he returned to his home in Bel Air, Hirsch emptied his suitcase and found his $1,100 laptop missing.

He called AirTran right away and was surprised and extremely vexed when "they then told me electronic equipment was not covered" by the airline.

Studies have shown that an estimated 34 million items were lost or delayed in 2006. Mishandled baggage cost the air transport industry almost $4 billion that year. That's a lot of baggage misery inflicted on a lot of people. Yet a lot of fliers are still confused about what airlines are liable for when it comes to baggage.

Here is just a smidge of AirTran's 20-page Contract of Carriage:

"AirTran will not be liable for damage to protruding parts of baggage including but not limited to wheels, pockets, hanger hooks, pull handles, straps, zippers and locks."

Furthermore, the contract says, "AirTran is not responsible for jewelry, cash, photographic or electronic equipment, silverware, negotiable papers, securities, business documents, samples, paintings, antiques, artifacts, manuscripts, furs, irreplaceable books, or publications and similar valuable items contained in checked or unchecked baggage. If any of these items are lost, damaged or delayed, the passenger will not be entitled to any reimbursement."

Interpret that to mean that anything you value, hold dear or vitally need (such as medical supplies) should not, I repeat, not be packed in your checked luggage. And, if you think AirTran is the only one with such arcane and severe rules, guess again. All the carriers have similar rules.

AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver wasn't exactly coy about this issue.

"The bags go through so many different organizations and hands," Graham-Weaver said, adding that your bag isn't just handled by an airline's ticket agent, conveyer belt and baggage handlers. It also goes through various security checkpoints where your belongings are rummaged through, taken out, moved around and examined by authorities such as the Transportation Security Administration.

"It's a very vulnerable process," Graham-Weaver said. "We do pay out claims, but it comes down to your word about what was in your bag. With so many hands on your bag, it's going to be hard for you to prove where your valuables went missing.

"When you purchase that ticket online with us and you're checking I accept, I accept, I accept the language in our contract to fly, it really is a contract," she added. "It's very clear in our contract that we're not responsible."

Pretty much your only hope for reimbursement is that your entire bag goes permanently MIA.

Even then, liability is limited.

In January 2007, the Department of Transportation issued a rule that an airline is liable for at least $3,000 per passenger for domestic travel, increasing the previous amount by $200. For international flights, different rules apply and the amount of liability is limited to $1,500.

Unchecked-baggage liability is limited to $400 per bag.

But to receive any compensation at all, you must complain to the airline within 24 to 48 hours. Sadly, some fliers have never heard of a Contract of Carriage.

At the airport, if you're using a paper ticket, some carriers print these rules on the jacket or envelope that holds the tickets. But if you use an e-ticket, as most passengers now do, the baggage rules might not be quite as accessible.

Hirsch said he saw the rules posted on a wall in the claims office when he went to complain, which doesn't seem to be the most effective time to enlighten fliers on their rights.

Most airlines say they assume that you will read the rules on the Web site when you buy your tickets. To be more clear, all carriers should automatically link to the Contract of Carriage so that fliers can read it before they complete a ticket purchase. I had to dig and click several times on each airline's Web site before I could find the rules.

"Nevertheless, there is typically a whole laundry list of conditions that no one reads when you're in the process of buying tickets," said Michael Lapre, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, who has done research on mishandled baggage. "Airlines have to cover their side of the business. Even the government warns you against checking your valuables."

This doesn't mean you can't try suing, but it won't be an easy case to win.

In Hirsch's case, he accepted a $100 voucher offered by AirTran's Graham-Weaver who added, "We really would like to get the word out that when it comes to personal or sentimental items, if you can't wear it or carry it with you, you should ship it or not bring it at all."

Reach Consuming Interests by e-mail at consuminginterests@baltsun .com or by phone at 410-332-6151. Find an archive of Consuming Interest columns at baltimoresun.com/consuming