The agent was correct regarding wheels. Nobody covers it. I've had two broken and they always looked at me like I had a foot growing out of my face. Just take the $25 and go buy some roller blade wheels.

As for US, it's interesting you mentioned, that, they were one of the airlines that broke my aluminum wheel once and didn't pay for it. They lost a bag entirely and barely paid me squat. They punched a hole all the way through a Pelican 1650 and they replaced the Pelican, so go figure. I guess the later instance they could prove that they indeed did the damage. Who knows.