I'm in the camp it's not worth paying to meet someone.
While it is an exclusive event, I'd rather pay the $700 for the Nicaragua trip like Carpenter69 says and end up w/ more cigars and more time to hang out.
The more I think about this the more it bothers me. Don't get me wrong I love this shop but it kinda puts me off to have to pay for the right to have a chance at LE stuff. I don't know, I will have to think on it a bit. Reminds me of how the other shop made you buy a box of Liga to be able to buy a bundle of good stuff.