The original models of the ERJ (the ERJs) are usually very weight restricted. The Next, the LRs are a little more accomadating. The XRs (the ones with winglets that only Express Jet flies, are almost never weight restricted, unless the flight is more than 3 hours

 

This is easy to say and hard to do - but if you can talk to the captain.

Yes the CRJ200 can be weight restricted, it mostly happens when we need an alternate and so we're carrying extra fuel but of course we still need to make the max. landing weight at the original destination. I hear the EMB145 is worse and sometimes is weight restricted even without an alternate. We can also get restricted if there's a lot of international bags (which tend to be heavy and therefore take twice the weight credit for the same size).

Anyway - more times than you'd think we have the gate agent tell us we're weight restricted when we're not - I have no idea who tells them we are or how they get that information. When we hear it we can correct them. But who knows how many times we don't hear about it and the reason we have 47 on board is because the gate agent limited it without telling us. A good gate agent is trying to get as many people on as is legal, sadly in this day and the age the number of bad gate agents is too high.

 

You can blame that Be1900 crash down in Charlotte for the weight restrictions, which afterwards they changed all the passenger weights and changed the way we have to load bags.

In the Dash, before the crash, if we were 200 lbs overweight, we would just move 10 carry-ons from the cargo to the cabin and the weight "magically" went away. We cant do that anymore (at least arn't supposed to)

We used to be able to fill the Dash full all the time, now it is weight restricted to 35 (out of 37) for EVERY flight no matter how short. Of course the DAsh8-300 have no problems taking 50 pax/83 bags/ and plenty of fuel for a alternate (and it will still land on a 3000 ft runway.