My son (2019) played for a big/well known travel team with strong connections here on the west coast. They were of no assistance when it came to recruiting and even less when trying to get an area code invite. It was early summer of his senior year - there was interest from several schools but he had no offers....until Area Code Tryouts.
A big league scout, who lived locally, saw my son play in a summer tournament the year before - this was by coincidence only. Son played lights out. A family member of ours contacted one of the scout's family members and mentioned that my son was trying to get an area code tryout invite. The scout remembered my son and within 48 hours, my son received an invite.
My son fortunately did very well and made the first cut to the afternoon but did not make the final Area Code team. That was OK - after the area code tryout, his phone blew up with calls and texts from schools. In the 2 weeks following the AC tryout, he received 3 offers, was invited to multiple visits, and committed to one of his top choice schools.
There were approximately 30-40 college scouts in attendance and all of them were there recruiting hard (radar guns, stopwatches, clipboards, approaching players after the event). Many of the players at the tryout were already committed so uncommitted players had a golden opportunity if they performed well.
Be 100% sure that your son has strong tools before pursuing getting an Area Code tryout. As far as the tryout my son attended here in California, it was loaded with D1 level talent. And if your son has the talent, leave no stone un-turned and find a way to get to the tryout. It is definitely worth it.
Good Luck.