Originally Posted by
fumje
A lot of bags don't fit in the overhead of ERJ145, so it sounds like the agent was trying to simplify the judgement call of OK/not by saying everyone has to gate check something. Sort of silly, but not totally irrational.
I haven't had problems with the ERJ145. The overheads on those are taller than the ones on the CRJs which are the aircraft that I can't use my rollaboard on. My standard 40 liter backpack generally fits under the seat in front of me and can fit in the ERJ145 overhead but not CRJs.
What I find really interesting is that the GAs took the OPs laptop bag. Laptops and bags with Li-Ion or Li-Poly batteries are supposed to be a no-no in the cargo hold after the lithium fires of past years.
EDIT: LarryJ's explanation of weight & balance rules makes perfect sense to me.
EDIT 2: I was thinking of the 175. Flew a 145 recently and realized how wrong I was. I can certainly understand carry-on limitations on the 145.