Unless I'm missing something obvious, the Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards credit card upgrade voucher may have just got much more valuable. Comparisons have been made above of the changes to the redemption table for Business and First fares, however off-peak it appears that long haul reward flights in Economy and Premium Economy are cheaper than currently.
For example a zone 5 flight in PE used to cost 30000 avios each way and now costs 40000 avios each way peak, and 26000 avios each way off-peak.
Bearing in mind that the Lloyds upgrade voucher apparently only requires an available reward flight showing in Business to permit booking then an off-peak redemption to zone 5 would now cost 52000 + voucher. This flight would be "worth" 100000 avios on the new chart, and would have cost 60000 avios + voucher under the current avios pricing. The difference widens as you go further through the zones (e.g. Sydney would be 130000 + voucher off-peak instead of 150000 + voucher currently, and "worth" 250000 avios).
This only applies off-peak. In addition the release of many more business class reward flights should make using the voucher and finding availability much easier.
In addition the reduction in Economy and Premium rates may go some way to offset the high taxes, fees and charges, and perhaps make them more attractive for redemptions (particularly "off peak", which is for quite a lot of the year).
The new arrangements do seem quite complicated, but unless I have interpreted this incorrectly, for me the changes will probably be positive. I will just ensure I redeem on off-peak dates and use the voucher to upgrade into CW!
This ignores that fact that earning the avios in the first place (on flights) just got more expensive.