I do think there are a subset of out of combat spells that aren't actually that important and are basically just the simple/straightforward way of doing something. But even then they can still matter, if you need to go to the Fire Plane to get some McGuffin then yeah you don't need plane shift, but having it does present options. If the McGuffin is guarded by an army that they can't fight their way out then the people without plane shift who are using a portal have to steal it and escape undetected, the plane shift team can grab it and bounce so it's not as concerning if they are detected which opens up options for planning.

But it's also about the DM style, if things are setup where the expectations are the PCs win the day and that challenges are all beatable that's going to lean into those spells not be as important, whereas expectations are that some challenges aren't beatable then they will matter more because they present options to bypass some of those unbeatable encounters.