I never made it into the hot seat, but it is important to get the initial fastest finger question right. Even if you are not the fastest, you earn points for correctness. Then it is pushing as soon as you can the right answer for the following questions. I did get my seat number up on the top 10, and I felt that was great in itself.
Personally, they don't award enough for the size of the audience. In the three times we went during our trip, only two people made it into the hot seat during the show. It is still fun to play, and winners do happen, as there was a million dollar winner in the show before ours.
It is fun and worth the trip.