Originally Posted by hhoope01

Definitely do as yorkshire exile suggests. There is no reason to wait for the points to make the awards reservation given you don't need to have the points in your account. (Note you will need the points at least 7 days before the stay.)

Even with Marriott's program changes last year, I'm not sure that you would be able to just change your reservation from a paid stay to a points stay should the hotel end up selling out of standard rooms. It isn't worth the risk given you can make an awards res now anyway.

BTW, this is one of those Marriott program differences that is very nice to have. I know with SPG, if you don't have the points, you can't make the award res. So given the "issues" around Marriott's "No Blackout dates" and "Hotel can limit the number of standard rooms only for a limited number of days" program rules, being able to make reservations even if you don't yet have the points, provides a little bit of a hedge against the issues around those to program changes.