I "pay" for mine with the Citi Advantage Executive card, AC membership is included in the fee. Spend enough each year and you can get Citi to credit you the fee. I probably wouldn't pay for it outright each year, but wow is it nice during irrops and getting help from the staff. I'm not really a beer snob at all, so a nice cold draft and a couple snack type foods and I'm good. Most I've been to have been fairly chill and quiet (for the most part, irrops can cause a crowd).

Card comes with Global Entry credit and some other nice perks.