1.  I have never experienced this or heard of this.  I'll have to check a little more but my guess is that this is not true.2.  See above.3.  I'm currently Premier and haven't had trouble booking what I want, whether it was 12-13 months out or even as little as 3 months out.  The places I have booked using points are Maui - Lahaina Tower, Kauai Lagoons, Aruba Ocean Club, Aruba Surf Club,  Grand Chateau.  My Maui was for 13 days.  I did 2 - 10 Day reservations in Kauai, Aruba Surf was a 7 day Studio and the Aruba Ocean was an 8 day Studio.  Grand Chateau, I only did 1 day as we were travelling through.