Lindsay Wilson said:
The easiest option (to be able to arrange the transfer) is being able to access a US-based card - but if you are Australian, then no luck there, as no US-Bank would issue you with a CC (as you have no Social Security number, being a non-US resident, no credit history, etc).
Even with a SSN and US residency, its the no US-based credit history that will stop this. I have a collegue who has moved from the UK to USA, has a green card and SSN, and has even purchased a house there. The bank was willing to lend him money to purchase the house since he had a significant deposit after selling his place in the UK.
But since he has no other credit history in the USA, he could not get a credit card - at all - for the first year of living there. He has a secure income of over US100K, significant assets and has spotless UK-based credit history. But the US banks would not even consider that when he applied for credit cards.
He is married to a US citizen who has good credit rating and she can get credit cards without a problem, and assign him a secondary card. But no card in his name.
Eventually, after 12 months of holding a Bank of America savings account and showing a regular saving pattern in that account for 12 months, they relented and issued him a credit card - with a US$500 credit limit! He was told that after 6 months he can apply to have the credit limit increased.
He can't even get a Corporate Diners Club card for use on company travel, even though he has held a UK-based Corporate Diners Club card for the last 5 years and never missed a payment!
Now, to get back on topic (who ever said I could not do that??), an Australian based Amex Membership Rewards card will allow points transfer to QF, Air NZ, Malaysian airline programs, Hilton Honors, Priority Club and Starwood hotel programs. Transfer to Hilton is 1:1, while transfer to Starwood is 1000 MR points = 330 Starwood points. Remember you can earn Amex points at 1.5 per A$ with the Amex Rewards Maximiser card.
Air NZ will allow redemptions on UA flights, but not tranfer of points into UA. Hilton Honors permist transfer to many airlines, but strangely UA is not one of them (AA, CO, DL, AS, NW are all available). But the rate is typically 10,000 HH points -> 1500 miles, so not good value.
I don't know about going from Starwood to UA, but that may be one option. Still, its going to be significantly devalued on the way through. If Starwood to UA is 1:1, then you have almost 2:1 transfer from A$ spend on Amex Rewards Maximiser card to UA MP miles via Starwood.
An Australian Diners Club card can redeem points for UA MP points at 2:1. But earning is 1 point per A$. Some people have been offered 1.5 points or even double points for a short period as an incentive to retain the card.
Of course the problem with Amex and Diners is acceptance for payment. They are fine for travel related expenses (airfares, hotels, car rental, most restaurants etc), supermarkets, fuel etc, but many small businesses and an increasing number of larger ones and utilities and services will only take Visa, Mastercard and Bank Card. The Duty-free shop in Cairns Airport told me there would be a surcharge for using Amex to purchase two bottles of scotch (in the end it was not in the bill and not charged, so I didn't complain).