I was told if items are missing from luggage, you MUST report the theft before leaving the airport. Otherwise, you're SOL.

The days of buying liquid gifts that must be checked through are over if you want a guarantee of the gift getting there, I'm afraid. Most items of value are not covered, as another poster explained. Northwest at least used to make you check past the page telling that most items of value aren't cover if you check them -- all airlines should do the same but I don't think Delta does or I haven't noticed it lately when I check in.

I realize it's hard to teach our parents but I honestly don't understand why anyone in this century buys gifts on the road. You WILL be robbed at some point. And the hassle factor is huge. Shop at home and just fib about where you got the goodies. That's what Peachfront does. OK, on a recent trip I notoriously bought a box of 50 pounds of rocks but since they were 10 cents a pound then I figured if somebody wanted to steal my gems, I wouldn't be out too much.