It's kind of correct. You can't book HA flights directly as classic rewards as on this page it has to be one as an AS flight number:
https://www.qantas.com/ie/en/qantas-experience/network-and-partner-airlines/hawaiian-airlines.html#qantas-frequent-flyers
https://help.accorplus.com/hc/en-au/articles/49291532869913-Will-the-new-Stay-Plus-FREE-Night-be-subject-to-allocation-and-availability
Nope, no allocation.
Unlike JQ, 3K was never that strict on the 7kg. Once big plus was their priority boarding that started with Row 1 and over wing exits, followed by rows 2-5 (preferred seats) then the back half and front. I wish JQ would copy that 3K method!
I flew on the A220 today in J (first time) and had a nice flight, I think the seat was better than the 737 (noting the A321 and refit 737 will have the newer seat) but the stand out thing was the front toilet... so much space compared to 737 front lav or those tiny things down the back.
I'm onboard QF157 and the speeds after we left Australia are excellent.
Speedtest settled at this but it did peak at 110mbps down.
FYI this is the exact spot we lost the NBN sats and the drop was around 3-4 minutes, the announcement before takeoff did mention a drop leaving AU airspace...
BNE-MEL has been an A220 route since day 1, I flew on an A220 on the first day of passenger flights from BNE-MEL. Nothing special really other than QF using more A220s on the BNE-MEL route and then stretching the 737s to new places like DRW-SIN, BNE-ROR etc
Noticed this as well, mine showed about 4 days out the rego.
For partner flights on aircraft that aren't in the QF fleet (eg A320/A350) it doesn't show an aircraft picture whilst those that are in the QF fleet but partner operated are showing the QF livery plane.
Most of the 300s are still registered to Qantas awaiting their sale. Back in April Avmax mentioned they had signed a letter of intent with Qantas to purchase the 16x Q300s but it appears this hasn't happened yet except for just a few which were accepted then went into storage. My guess is they...
One other thing is that pricing across all regions is now the same, Milelion has a good article about this.
https://milelion.com/2025/08/05/accor-plus-becomes-all-accor-explorer-stay-plus-nerfed-dining-discount-cut-to-30
I had mine in Malaysia and paid ~$427 per year with 2x free nights...
I guess it’s an easy one for them to cancel with other options like QF or JQ via DPS whereas other ports aren’t serviced by other QF group airlines making it harder to recover.
It does say on the website (https://www.qantas.com/au/en/book-a-trip/flights/smartlynx-australia.html):
They are apparently going to add classic rewards on after Feb 2026 but its yet to be seen. This document from a couple of days ago mentions reward seats and even an increase to carrier...