Summary before the detail:
- The case it comes with will probably be ok to check in a bunch of times if you get lucky with the handling.
- Eventually it WILL break (especially the zipper) or get slammed and damage the bird. I have a GoProfessional travel mode case and it has been checked dozens of times with no issues, highly recommend it.
I've been using the GoProfessional Hard Cases for both my phantom and Inspire. It's only useful for the Phantom if I'm forced to check it when I have too many bags. For the Inspire it is absolutely a necessity. I used the hard case it comes with once or twice but it took enough hits that I decided to spend the money on a good case. I have taken it all over the world checked in this case and it is still 100%. A really important additional point here is that the GoProfessional cases and others like them are completely water proof. This is important not because I have dropped the whole case in the water but for two other reasons: first - the cases can get rained on or splashed at both the airport when transferring from plane to luggage pick up and when you check into hotels if you're at resorts etc..., second - perhaps most important is humidity. I recently went to the Maldives and the humidity was so high that everything was wet all the time but my inspire was bone dry in the hard case. I am also in Hong Kong a lot and same humidity issues for active use and storage.
Summary: you'll probably be ok for a little while with the case it comes with, but it WILL go bad at some point so if you plan to travel a lot spend the money and get a good hard case.
