Do the longer appointments for the reasons you stated, and reserve the shorter appointments for ladies you've already seen when you just want a "quickie." That's what I generally do, except for my ATF who's worthy of two hours (or longer).

I never like to do less than 2 hours, or it seems like a waste.

When I'm sure I'll get along well with the person, I opt for longer dates to the extent my funds will allow it.  I love overnight dates especially.

It always comes down to money, unfortunately.

Personally, I have no problem with with the "power hour" approach, but that's just me.  In fact, I prefer shorter appointments with ladies I am meeting for the first time, as my feelings about being comfortable with the lady are inverse of yours: I will only invest the larger blocks of time and $ with those whom I have already established a comfort level with. You will probably find the majority of respondents will agree with you, though.    

One thing I strongly disagree with is that you need to book longer appointments in order to see "top-tier" ladies.   It may help, but it is certainly not necessary.  If the lady advertises that one hour meetings are on her menu, you can be sure that she will accommodate you if that is what you prefer.

You said you like the longer ones better.  I do too.  You're probably not going to change by forcing a lot of shorter ones.  Cut out some other stuff and the chips will stack up for what you want.  I've been lucky as a newbie in that everyone has laid off the clock watching.

I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on the hobby, either, so I have to be careful with my choices. I won't do less than one hour or more than two. One of the charms of the hobby is the opportunity it affords to shop around. One hour appointments let me do that nicely. One hour is quite enough time for me to decide whether I want to see someone again, and, if so, for a longer time or not.

This isn't a hard and fast rule with me, though. Generally, one hour is the default for a first meeting. However, if the little head insists, I will schedule 90 minutes or even two hours, fully aware of the opportunity cost.

I like everything from a quickie 30 min to overnighters.  I normally will hobby every week and do a quickie with one of the local Asian Agencies.  They have an excellent array to sample from.  With ATF's, i'll normally do 2hrs.  And periodically, i'll have the opportunity while traveling on business to spend the whole evening, dining out at a nice restaurant and then waking up with a cutie snuggling next to me.  

Variety is the spice of life!

Longer in time and fewer dates

I too prefer the longer time frames with one that I believe I will mesh just fine with.. I love the overnighters myself with those I have gotten to know somewhat beforehand.. To me anything less than a few hours just cheapens the experience for me.

Of course it all depends on $$$$$ but with the longer dates I have fewer dates and that is fine.. Even without a SO in my life my free time is limited as is.