Gee Princess, you are a veritable fountain of tote bag advice! Thanks.
I do put batting in the handles, I like how it makes them softer and more comfortable.
I kind of enjoy one part of handle making. I like when the handle is all pressed, the batting is inside and I'm sewing the 2 seams on the edges. Mind you, so far my handles hover around 24" but I get a kick out of watching that handle get sucked into my sewing machine. I am not as thrilled watching regular fabric do that. Maybe it's because the handle is so thin and I can see my sewing machine bed on both sides of it? IDK but it's like magic for me!