Just spend a week getting to know relatives and sharing photos and I really reaped the rewards of weeks or maybe years of scanning old photos, but for many of us, getting a 35mm scanner and grinding through doesn’t make any sense. Nor does finding a VCR to digital recorder and cleaning your old videotape. In that case, a scanning service is a good option.
Personally I’ve found most of these services to provide too low a resolution (I normally record in JPEG-200o format at 16 bit resolution at 4000 dpi plus with infra red dust removal, but I’m a nerd and have a Minolta Elite). But The Wirecutter recommends Memory Plus, so I might give them a try for the next round of video tape.