1- First to the OP's question. I found it worth it. I did 60K and will do some of my Choice points.

Also it's amazing how similar everyone's experience is!

Every time I book award tickets they put me on hold for 30 minutes to figure out how much the taxes will be. It's never more than $30 or so...but it takes forever and is maddening.

Ditto!

Also what the earlier poster said.
It's a 2-4 hour process over various calls.