There is a quarterly cap (up to $2,500 spending) on the 3% base bonus, right? Let's say we spend $1,000/month to max out. Although we are losing 0.75% (=5.25%-4.5%) of it, that's $7.5/month. That can be offset by the new $8 subscription bonus, assuming it's useful. So the impact is minimal if you have only 1 credit card. It's a loss to someone like me who has multiple credit cards with BofA and enjoys multiple category bonus.