Right about there:
I know, not helpful. 
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I come from this a bit differently, as saxophones are incredibly expensive to fix and very easy to damage.
- Buy the best case or bag/case you can afford.
- Never ever buy a cheap thin ‘gig bag’ - these are only good for transporting your damaged insturment to the shop (but not for bringing it home).
- Do not compare your case cost to your insturment cost. What if your instrument gets damaged. Are you able to (geographically/financially/emotionally/expeditiously) buy a replacement and set it up / get it set up? Are you emotionally attached to your instrument? What is all that worth to you?
Of couse you don’t need a $1,000 case (yep, for sax I do have some) for your bass perhaps, but please don’t cheap out.
You honestly don’t want to find out where the point of diminishing return is.
The rest of the cost of pushing that point away from you is called insurance.
I never understood why people put money, and time into an instrument and then want to cheap out on protecting it. You will be very suprised how many things your case bangs into when transporting it.
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My son who plays guitar asked for a “soft case” for a Yamaha acoustic guitar he has, for Christmas. I was going to get the Yamaha case made for that model, but the website was out when I checked. I opted to have them let me know when it was back in stock, but was not hopeful that would happen in time for the holiday. It was getting to be crunch time, meaning if I wanted one, I need to order or buy one locally really soon.
I found the Road Runner model to fit it, and they had it in stock at the nearest Guitar Center, so we stopped there and got it. Looks good and son was happy with it. I believe it is this model, the Road Runner RR4TAG Boulevard II Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag. ← changed link to page on Road Runner website, vs. GC.
Oh, and after we bought it, I got home and had an email from Yamaha that their case was back in stock. That figures!
This acoustic was given to my son by one of his friends, a guy that asks my son to help him when he moves (which seems to happen every year). Every time he helps with a move for this friend, my son comes home with a guitar or something else the friend no longer wants. Just a few weeks ago, he came back with yet another acoustic guitar, plus a Fender FM 212R amp for electric guitar, which has two 12" speakers, 100W output. The amp came with a Lyon “Wah” pedal, too. My guess is that these cast off items are the friend’s way of compensating my son for his help with the moves.
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What are you going to use it for?
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This should do the trick as long as he does not plan on flying anywhere and checking it as baggage. That’s a whole new ball game and price range. 
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I was just thinking out loud. I’m just starting out and still practising in my living room. Can’t imagine I’ll be needing to transport mine any time soon, if I do it will just be a short journey in my car probably. A gig bag robust enough to rattle about in the car is all I’m likely to need.
Are there brands better than others, for example worth buying a branded Fender one for my Fender guitar? Or is that money just going into a label?
Should’ve said I’m in UK, don’t think the ones listed above sell here, just googled and couldn’t find Road Runner for example.
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Gator Transit is what I use.
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It all really depends on what you want to use it for. In four years, I have used gig bags to:
- Carry instruments home from the store
- Take an instrument in for service once
That’s it. The rest of the time, they are just taking up space.
If I were going to regular jams this wouldn’t really change anything, I would still just want a nice, light, foldable and storable gig bag. One with good padding but definitely not hard or with a firm case.
If I had a need for storing basses out of sight I would most likely just sell the bass. My current stand holds five instruments and that’s plenty.
But, mileage varies.
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@Celticstar Right. He has a Road Runner hard case for his main Ibanez acoustic-electric guitar, and a hard case for a Greek bazouki I inherited and thought he might learn to play (turns out the neck is twisted, possibly from my parents’ hanging it on the wall suspended horizontally for many years 
). Also a banjo in a hard case, and a ukelele in its hard case. I think he just wanted to protect that Yamaha acoustic, and get a soft case for a change. He hasn’t taken any guitars when he’s traveled by air, mostly for work.
Did I mention he also has a digeridoo, a harmonica set, and an electric Epiphone guitar? But 99.5% of the time, he plays his Ibanez guitar.
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Hope you are using a stand
Other than branded hard shell cases that came with mine I have just purchased non-branded gig bags with at least 12mm/.5" of padding. These can be purchased online at eBay or Amazon for less than $100 each. I don’t believe there is an advantage to getting a branded one. YMMV
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I would go with a Reunion Blues or Mono Gig Bag.
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I was just checking the Road Runner website, and it looks like they are going to bring out a new line of hard cases “for the working musician,” calling it their Runway series - but not quite yet. The page currently says “Coming Soon,” and text is touting that it will be their “next level” for high end protection. The cases will feature a TSA approved lock, etc. and so on. Maybe something to keep an eye out for.
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I looked at those, the roadrunner hybrid and the Gator ICON series. But I felt, for storage in our small house, they were all too much like a hard case with a zipper.
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If you can wait it out, cars are a Black Friday discount staple.
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Gator is a solid choice. Good value for money! 
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I have 2 TSA approved cases with GPS tagging (apple) when the bass needs to be on the plane it’s ready to go. Sadly, there’s no way I can transport with that case around town, lol.
@John_E I’m with you. My first bike rack was $100 rack you fitted on the trunk. Nearly failed on my on the freeway, luckily I was able to stop fast enough before the bikes fell off. The 2 bikes that was on there cost nearly $2000 each. From then on it’s either hitch rack or roof rack.
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