I have a Victorinex 17 inch bag that I bought expressly in order to fit in the overhead bins on the small regional jets. It fits nicely, sideways, and I have traveled thousands of miles on United regional jets including CRJ-200's with it. Today, however, flying out of ORD, the flight attendant required it to be gate checked even though it would have fit, and insisted that it was FAA policy that I couldn't carry it on. She insisted that I could find a policy about it on United's site (not). Twitter was no help. So I ask those of you in the forum, what is the policy with United, why does it seem to vary, and can it be challenged with a bag that absolutely fits in the bin?
Thanks!