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• South State Bank: $300 checking bonus, no direct deposit needed, across 8 states.

• Sam's Club: $100 DoorDash eGift card for $80, limit 2, starts 8/26.

• US Open Chase and Amex lounges are back and taking reservations now.

• Priority Pass 'Unwind' spots let you walk up for a free snack and drink without gaming, and Chase still includes them.

• Targeted Amex Offer: three Apple Pay taps for a $10 statement credit.

• American pulled a family from paid-with-miles business seats for deadheading pilots, a booking cautionary tale.

• Radar: StubHub via Paze is now hitting 15x for some cardholders.

South State Bank: $300 checking bonus, no direct deposit

Doctor of Credit flags a $300 checking bonus at South State Bank with no direct deposit requirement, open to residents of AL, CO, FL, GA, NC, SC, TX and VA. No-DD bonuses are rare and easy to clear, so this is close to free money if you are in-footprint. Check the funding and minimum-balance terms before opening.

→ If you live in one of the eight states, open the account and follow the balance requirement to bank the $300.

Single source (Doctor of Credit), terms not yet independently confirmed. · Doctor of Credit

Sam's Club: $100 DoorDash gift card for $80

Starting 8/26, Samsclub.com sells a $100 DoorDash eGift card for $80, a flat 20% off, with a limit of two per member. That is real value if you already spend on DoorDash, and you can layer whatever card earns you the most on Sam's Club online. Buy only what you will actually use, since gift-card balances do not earn interest sitting idle.

→ On or after 8/26, grab up to two cards at Samsclub.com if DoorDash is part of your regular spend.

Single source (Doctor of Credit). · Doctor of Credit

US Open Chase and Amex lounges are back

The Points Guy reports the Chase and Amex lounges have returned to the US Open, with reservations available for cardholders. These pop-up lounges book up fast during the tournament, so access is really about reserving early, not just showing up. Confirm which cards qualify and whether guest slots are included before you plan around it.

→ If you are attending, reserve your lounge slot now through the Chase or Amex booking flow.

Single source (The Points Guy). · The Points Guy

Targeted Amex Offer: $10 for three Apple Pay taps

A targeted Amex Offer gives a $10 statement credit for using Apple Pay three times. It is small, but the effort is trivial if you already tap to pay. As always with targeted offers, add it to the card before you spend or it will not track.

→ Check your Amex Offers, add it if present, and make three Apple Pay purchases.

Single source (Doctor of Credit), targeted so not universal. · Doctor of Credit

US Bank's transfer partners get a closer look

Frequent Miler's week in review digs into US Bank's newly launched transfer partners and finds the earning rates can be decent for common spend categories, though the rollout has been uneven. This matters for anyone weighing a US Bank card as a transferable-points engine rather than just cash back. Read the details before assuming a given partner or ratio is live.

→ If you hold or are considering a US Bank rewards card, read the breakdown before transferring anything.

Single source (Frequent Miler). · Frequent Miler

Amex Offer: up to $60 off YouTube TV

Miles to Memories reports a new Amex Offer worth up to $60 on a YouTube TV subscription. If you pay for the service, this is a straightforward recurring-bill credit. Add it to the card you use for the subscription before your next billing date.

→ Add the offer in your Amex account and make sure YouTube TV bills that card.

Single source (Miles to Memories). · Miles to Memories

Priority Pass 'Unwind' spots: walk up, skip the games

On r/ChaseSapphire, cardholders confirm you can walk into Priority Pass gaming lounges like Gameway (at Midway and elsewhere), scan in, and take a free drink and snack without playing anything, plus a guest. A useful thread detail: Priority Pass has separate experience tiers (Lounge, Unwind for gaming, Rest for nap suites, Refresh for spa), and Chase's Priority Pass still includes Unwind and Refresh while Amex and Cap One dropped them. That makes these a quiet CSR advantage at airports with no traditional lounge.

→ Next time you see a Gameway, Minute Suite or similar in the Priority Pass app, scan in for the free snack even if you do not use the main service.

Corroborated across multiple cardholder reports on r/ChaseSapphire.

YMCA is coding as a CSR online-category bonus

On r/CreditCards, a cardholder reports YMCA charges triggering the 5.25% back online-shopping category on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Membership dues and program fees can add up, so if this holds it is a nice quiet multiplier. Treat it as one data point until more people confirm it on their own accounts.

→ If you pay YMCA dues, run one charge and check whether it earns the elevated online rate before assuming it works.

Single unverified report (r/CreditCards). · r/CreditCards

Award seats are not immune to involuntary downgrades

View from the Wing details a family kicked out of business class to seat deadheading pilots, reportedly because their seats were booked with miles. Award tickets can be down-prioritized when a flight needs seats, so the lesson is to keep your booking confirmation, get any downgrade in writing at the airport, and pursue a fare-difference refund plus compensation after. Do not assume a confirmed premium award seat is untouchable.

→ On premium award trips, save your seat confirmation and, if downgraded, demand written documentation before you leave the gate so you can claim the difference.

Single source (View from the Wing), one passenger's account. · View from the Wing

Same flight, double the miles: book PAR-SEA, not CDG-PAR-SEA

On r/awardtravel, a flyer notes that booking Paris to Seattle earns roughly double the redeemable miles of Charlotte-to-Paris-to-Seattle on the identical long-haul segment, because mileage is tied to the fare and routing, not just the miles flown. When you have flexibility, comparing how different origin points price the same physical flight can meaningfully boost earning. It is a niche move but free once you know to check.

→ When earning miles matters, price a few different origin airports for the same long-haul flight and book the itinerary that credits the most.

Single unverified report (r/awardtravel). · r/awardtravel

StubHub via Paze now hitting 15x for some

On r/ChaseSapphire, cardholders report StubHub purchases through Paze in a web browser earning 10x to 15x points, on top of the $150 CSR StubHub credit and Capital One Shopping cash back. It is the same stack we covered recently, now with even richer multipliers, though some report Paze checkout intermittently failing on StubHub. Same story, so verify the multiplier tracks before counting on it.

→ If you buy event tickets, test the Paze web checkout on a small purchase to confirm the elevated rate posts before going big.

Corroborated across multiple r/ChaseSapphire reports, with some checkout failures noted.

Thrifty Traveler 30% off is still live

Miles to Memories notes the Thrifty Traveler Premium 30% off sale is somehow still running past its expected end. If a paid award-alerts service is on your list, the discount window is still open for now.

→ Grab the discounted Premium subscription now if you have been on the fence, since it was already supposed to be over.

Single source (Miles to Memories). · Miles to Memories

A 125K Sapphire Preferred offer is floating around

On r/ChaseSapphire, a cardholder reports seeing a 125K Chase Sapphire Preferred sign-up offer. Elevated Sapphire offers come and go, so if you are under 5/24 and shopping for one, it is worth checking your own targeted and public offers now.

→ Check chase.com and any in-branch or targeted links for an elevated CSP offer before applying.

Single unverified data point (r/ChaseSapphire).

5/24: Chase's rule denying most cards if you have opened five or more accounts in the past 24 months.

Capital One Shopping: A free browser extension and app that pays cash back when you shop through it, stackable with card rewards.

Deadheading pilots: Crew being transported as passengers to work a later flight, sometimes given priority for seats.

Direct deposit (DD): An electronic payroll or benefit deposit some bank bonuses require; this South State bonus does not.

Paze: A bank-backed online checkout wallet that, in current promos, is paying big point multipliers at select merchants.

Priority Pass Unwind: The gaming-lounge tier of Priority Pass (like Gameway) that Chase includes but Amex and Cap One do not.

Transfer partner: An airline or hotel program you can move card points into, often for outsized award value.

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