Unless you own a premium card and do a lot of flights/hotel stays, Axis Ace still has the best across-the-board offline cashback of 1.5% compared to any other card. You swipe in a restaurant, you get 1.5% CB. You swipe at an apparel or departmental store, you get 1.5% CB. You use it online in non-government non-insurance places (say Dominos or book train tickets) you get 1.5% CB. Swiggy, Zomato and Ola get you 4% CB and recharges/bills via GPay get you 5% CB both combined to a maximum of Rs 500/month which is reasonable.
Are there cards which reward better than Ace in the specific categories mentioned above? Of course, Yes!
Axis Ace is one of the most no-non-sense cards to have especially if you don't want to have too many cards or stress your brain over which card to use for which purchase.
Not everyone who uses a CC is a TF member or is passionate about CCs. Axis Ace is great for all such people and even a lot of TF folks.