Originally Posted by
newyorkgeorge
If your bag fits in the overhead simply take the red tag and place it in your pocket. I've done that a couple of times with a shoulder bag.
This topic has come up many times – some of AA's commuter carriers have operating certificates that forbid them from having wheeled rollaboards in the cabin. For these airlines it doesn't matter how small your wheeled bag is it must be valet-checked ... as well as also being the case that your non-wheeled (shoulder) bag can be as large as you like as long as it fits somewhere in the cabin. The requirement to valet check can be not about whether it fits, but about whether the operating certificate for that airline and that plane permits it.