I actually opted for a contract that had zero points available until Fall 2018 (VGC) vs. a comparable 2017 contract. Few reasons:
1) VGC has pretty much zero availability at < 7 months, by the time ROFR and close would have happened, I would be able to use Aug 2017 points after June 2018, giving me only 3 months to use the points (or I'd have to bank them, which if they weren't banked by the deadline, I'm up a creek).
2) The contract was priced $5/point less ($152 vs. $157) AND I would not be responsible for 2017 dues... that saves me $1061 up front, or just under $11/point. I could have sold to Dave's for $15/point, but I wasn't comfortable only being able to book June-Aug 2018.
**having typed that out, I would have probably been able to book someone a summer vacation, oops. Oh well.
3) If I really really wanted to use points in 2017, I could have just borrowed from 2018.
The upfront savings of $1061 was most significant since I'm paying cash for the contract & my travel plans through next year are mostly spoken for. Different strokes for different folks!