I had a similar experience on 11/30/15 on the last leg of a 22 hour return trip between africa (to see my son and grandson) and the US. I had checked the Delta website in advance, measured my roll aboard carry-on before leaving, tested the carry-on in the sizer. For a trip of that length I carry both a small back pack and the roll aboard. I have been stranded over night by Delta/AirFrance on 2 of the last 3 times I visited my son (we DO love to go on strike). So I bring medications, a small pillow for my back (have a 12-inch rod), the electronics I don't want stolen, a clean pair of underwear, a toothbrush, my travel documents, small amount of currency for the countries I'm traveling through. This crap adds up. The very same bag I had placed in an OVERHEAD bin when I left home was banned from the last, yes smaller, plane on my way home. But my biggest issue was the smug, rude behavior of the flight attendant. I DID initially challenge him when he refused to let me board the plane, after all I've carried the same bag on similar flights any number of times. But I'm a wimp and I backed down. After I finished unloading all my "valuables" into a make do carry-on plastic bag, I asked where I could get info on what size bags I COULD bring for future flights. The guys was so hostile I wanted to cry. When I left the plane, he muttered to me as I passed "And now you can put it all back." C'mon really! I'm the doofy lady that pulls other peoples' missed trash out of the seat pocket. My sister was a flight attendant. I just want to know what the damn rules are so I can follow them. And yes, in my travels since then I would describe the effort to "gate check" bags as pushy and hostile. So I don't think the initial post is as much about having the "right" to carry bags on the plane as having the right to be treated fairly, consistently, courteously by the airlines.