The last announcement I heard pre-boarding was that there was no carriage on the QF flight, and also that Qantas staff would not handle the phone. So your only alternative was to forgo your flight, or bin it and walk away? It has blown up into such an issue that Samsung's reaction to it has been to set up exchange booths in some Australian airports, where staff can issue an acceptable loaner and also help with some data transfer.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/sa...add4554cb6db03 A more detailed list is on Samsungs website. I flew Monday , and didn't see one . Had my 2 yo Galaxy Note Edge questioned at GET security, but not the boxed Samsung S7 in my carry-on, nor asked to open the bag.. the old Edge had a very short retirement.
I personally think Samsung has bent over backwards on all this--I have never seen a consumer electronics company go to such lengths to try to keep their customers happy. In stark contrast to Apple, whose standard reaction toan obvious problem is to deny, deny, deny--two large class actions agianst Apple in the US at the moment over major issues ( including fire in some cases) with the iPhone 6.