BAC possibly isn't as good as before, but is it still better than the competition?

I'd say yes. Avios are, of all the airline loyalty scheme points, probably the most valuable because they are the most versatile. I earn Avios from my regular flights on three different airlines as well as from Nectar but I pool them in BAC because that's often where the best redemptions are (although Loganair also offer some extremely good value redemptions). Virgin points, by contrast, are pretty much useless, especially with their dynamically priced redemptions.