The gig bag IS padded.

I have the gig bag and it's worked OK for air travel, have taken it to NM &
Whistler.

The edge of my board cut through the fabric in one spot (at a seam where the
padding wasn't) when I went to NM, what I do now is take a piece of old
garden hose, split it down the middle, and wrap it around the edge of the
board. This not only saves the bag but protects the edges of the board.
Baggage handlers are notoriously rough with baggage.

I personally don't like those big wheeled monster bags, which is why I got
the gig bag. The big monster bags don't work well for car travel in my
opinion, the gig bag is perfect.

Be careful, if you read the fine print some airlines won't let you put
clothing, etc into a sports equipment bag, I had mine packed to the seams,
luckily they didn't check, but I saw one guy in whistler having to take
clothes out of his gear bag. If you do put clothing in your gear bag, bring
a canvas duffle bag just in case they make you take it out.

-Tom