Have u noticed avios short haul availability has gotten much worse?

Used to be several options a day now often zilch.

as a tax lawyer you are probably more organised than I am but there are literally never avios/reward flights when I get around to booking. i use them for hotels/a bit of cash off/seat choice if I have dropped to bronze and that's about it

Spending any sort of air miles on anything other than long haul business/first class travel is usually pretty terrible value. The cash cost of long haul business class flights is absolutely mental these days. 

Avios actually quite good for Club Europe flights, surprisingly. I value avios at about 0.7p each, LHR to Vienna , a route I do regularly, is £95 worth of avios plus £25 cash in CE.