I took the exam only, 800 bills for members( if i remember right) joining AWS for 2 years certainly paid for the difference in exam fees alone, along with the 25% discount on all the books. For the small fee I will continue to stay a member, the yearly fee is worth the savings in books I buy alone!
The exam is the hardest exam I have taken in 30 years. (its also the only one besides driving and employment exams I have taken in those 30 years)
It is a 3 part exam with each part taking 2 hours to complete so it takes 6 hours. you will find all the info in QC1:2007 and B5.1:2003 which is in pdf format here:
http://www.aws.org/w/a/certification/docs/QC1-2007.pdfhttp://www.aws.org/w/a/certification/docs/b5.1-2003-errata.pdf