I have a different interpretation. Chase hired away a pair of executives from American Express, and has tried to move its credit card business, which was largely acquired in the merger with Bank One, up-market. These two are engaged in a market share battle for a demographic which responds to travel rewards. Capital One, Citi, Bank of America and Barclay's are simply caught in the crossfire.
Inevitably, there will be a truce and both American Express and Chase will evaluate their gains and expenses, and they will change the focus from customer acquisition to retention. I think we are already seeing the beginning of this phase with Chase eliminating foreign transaction fees, adding EMV chips to cards (it looks good even though they do not have the infrastructure in place to implement PIN authorizations), and some cards with primary auto rental damage coverage.
I'm not saying we will not see more 100,000 mile/point offers, but I think we will see more narrowly targeted and disciplined offers designed to attact and retain long term customers.