I've flown twice with an equipment bag for a florida tournament. First time I used my regular Easton bat bag, but the attachment point on one of the handles was torn when I got it back - anything with "soft" handles is at risk of damage b/c of the way the bags are handled.
For trip #2, I used my larger team equipment bag ($65? @ Dicks a few years ago). Since it's larger, the cloth is a little sturdier than the "flashier" bat bags. Sure, it looked like overkill wheeling it out to the diamond each day, but it held up fine, and since I had no choice but to check it, I put as much in there as I could.
If you're worried about bats getting damaged - get some PVC tubing and slide the bats in. The tubes should still fit in the sleeve.
For trip #2, I used my larger team equipment bag ($65? @ Dicks a few years ago). Since it's larger, the cloth is a little sturdier than the "flashier" bat bags. Sure, it looked like overkill wheeling it out to the diamond each day, but it held up fine, and since I had no choice but to check it, I put as much in there as I could.
If you're worried about bats getting damaged - get some PVC tubing and slide the bats in. The tubes should still fit in the sleeve.