Good thoughts on Cathay, worth considering as well particularly due to their flights from HK.

In addition to the AA soft landing and million miles issues, there is definite uncertainty on what will happen to the program after the US Airways merger along with Delta / United changing their earning programs and whether AA will follow.

The connecting flights works only if you go back state side. Since Perth is so far from the states it can be a real pain to set aside the time and cost to fly back and forth. It is likely that unless you have business back home that the frequency of trips will be reduced (between five of us who moved, only four made it back at all in the last 15 months, and only two of those were within a year of leaving. Just really hard to get the time, plus when you have it there are so many new and exciting places to explore in the region that seem mythical when you live in the states). But to the good recommendation above, tack on the AA flights when you do fly home because it is a quick win in hitting those targets and adds only marginal costs to the flight, if any. Should consider similar connections within Oz (e.g. fly SYD first) as its usually a couple hours added to your flying time for thousands of points, more status qualifying, and little to no extra cost.

Hidden issue that myself and teammates missed when we moved is how you will get paid from your employer. If you are getting paid on the Oz system then you will need to review your bank accounts and whether they will support payments for a US credit card in their banking system. You can easily get hit hard with currency fluctuations, exchange rates, and fees on both ends if you need to transfer between Oz and US (or other) accounts. Local credit cards aren't as strong from a benefits standpoint and usually have higher yearly fees. If US credit card, no internationally fees is a must.