My experience has been very close to yours JoeJoe. I've been on and off seeking since 2019 and unfortunately didn't stumble across the unicorn you found. It was damn sure my dream!
I've gone back and forth between the $250 a month super premium membership (I think it's called Diamond?) the regular upgraded membership and the lower membership. The upgrades pretty much only result in more weird messages from Venezuela.
I connected with a few women but the time/energy investment outweighs any money that might be saved. At least for me.
My experience is basically this: Wade through the messages, contact a bunch, some write back (most don't). Figure out what's a bot and who's real. Try to decode their price-for-time equation. Message on the site for a while. Send them a gift through the site so you can break through the clutter. Switch to texting. Try to synch schedules. Meet for coffee. Meet for drinks. Finally meet for fun. It's a lot.
If I were single and had the disposable time (young people worry about disposable income, but at some point income isn't the limiter, time is) it might be an interesting pastime.
But as a grown-up, I just can't invest all of that time and energy. It makes much more sense (for me at least) to invest a little more money up front, read some reviews, get verified, and have a few hours of fun. My 2 cents.