Greetings! Since this is my first post on flyertalk, I want to thank everyone who responded. I really appreciate all of your comments. However I have to apologize as I see that I did not explain the situation adequately, and some of you made comments about aspects of the situation that don't apply because I had not explained myself thoroughly at first. Let me try again with more details. I went to a seminar in Boston from Raleigh; I thought I'd need the laptop and as it was a business related trip, and I work for the govt, I asked to borrow a govt laptop. The machine was old; about 5-6 years old; and I'd prefer not to discuss values as I dont want to prejudice my claim; but it was far from new and had no govt data. This was only the second time I ever traveled with a laptop and I honestly was not knowledgeable about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of checking it as checked luggage versus leaving it in carry-on luggage. It arrived on Boston OK, but on the way home to Raleigh, I asked the American airlines baggage counter lady if it would be safe to check. She unequivocally said OK and that was the last I saw of it. [I wish I could go back in time and take it with me but ...] It never arrived in Raleigh. I filed the claim with American immediately, that very night. I followed up with the TSA, the Boston police (who have a lost and found office at Logan airport) and I did inquire about using my homeowners policy. The police had nothing. The TSA in Boston were very helpful and called me several times though they had no information. What they said is that TSA randomly checks about every fifth or sixth bag (of checked luggage) and if they had opened it and checked it and it was lost then I could file a claim with TSA; however after research they said that my baggage claim numbers showed that my laptop was not among their checked items. On using my homeowners insurer, I honestly dont recall the details but I think the problem was that although the laptop was in my "care control or custody" (I'm beginning to sound like an insurance agent!) it wasn't owned and the limit (again I apologize but this all occurred in October so the details are kinda fuzzy) was either really low or the deductible was really high; so it simply wasn''t economically feasible to file plus there was possibility of being cancelled; trust me it wasnt a reasonable approach though if it was a brand new say 2K-3K laptop then for sure it would be worth it. So that left only filing with American Airlines itself. So I did file my claim with American and I documented everything but I noticed that on their claim form they have something that says that if you take a travel voucher instead of actual cash then they will pay you at least 20% more. So I figured the smart action was to file for cash, try to maximize that; then go back to American and ask for the travel voucher instead and then I would sign over the value of the (presumably 20% higher value voucher) to the government. American responded to all of this by offering to pay me $50. So that is where things stand and I want to ask you again, now that I have explained everything better, if you can offer me any "words of wisdom". What's my best course of action from this point going forward? How can I get the best value for the laptop which I would simply pay over to the govt? Thank you so much, in advance, for all of your help!!! Arthur