Actually the CRJ 700 is quite nice and roomy and a long trip is a lot better than a middle seat on a 737 or 319. When I took the same route on CO a few years ago, on the ERJ-145, they even served a nice cold meal and the RJ was fine for the long trip. The current AC (Sky Express) version on IAH-YYZ is labelled as a 705 (and I think is a CRJ-900), has IFE and a larger pitch than the UA version. I went one way on the AC version where there is no gate check at all - they insist that you use the overhead, which was fine - I had no problem. For the return on United (Express) I knew that my bag would fit in the overhead but the agent in IAH tagged everyone who was boarding with a roll-on. She assured me it would be at the door of the plane when we exited (yes, I stand corrected - the gate was 175 not 800 - poor memory for important details -but it still took 90 minutes and it still looks like a remnant of T2 and is very far out). I could only see the outside number of the gate. (The letters are for inside use (http://www.airliners.net/aviation-fo...d.main/5371555)
The tweet to United got a much quicker response than the initial complaint but the response was the same suggestion that I should pay to get on the plane sooner.