I'm trying to decide between making up some kind of foam padded cardboard box, or buying a hard case to use when checking my Mezzo D9 for a trip to Colombia. Does anyone know if the Brompton hard cases are big enough to fit a mezzo?

I guess if I went with a hard case I'd have to find someone from couchsurfing.org who I could leave it with for the duration of my trip.

I've already tried contacting the airline about gate-checking, but the customer service person (clearly reading from a script and speaking little english) seemed to have no idea what I was talking about (spirit air).

Anyone have any advise or relevant past experience?