Originally Posted by JonNYC

There's certainly no "caught off guard" factor as AA/QF reciprocal upgrades have been openly discussed for many months now.

I'd say a somewhat poor quote, somewhat poorly reported (and the fact that it's being reported from the Australian "side"-- so they aren't passionate about AAdv members abili to upgrade, in this context) and then combined with your misreading of it all combine for the misimpression.