Receiving certs?
 

I have a reward stay starting June 25th. I was waiting to build up my points by using the Visa to make up a small gap. At what point should I order the certificates, allowing for as many points to hit as possible? I know about the one week ahead deadline, but I don't know how quickly points are updated in my account after the actual transaction.

How does it work, do I call someone? Do they come to me or the property directly?

The MR points will post to your MR account a few days after your Visa statement posts (from my experience). So - the MR points you earn with your Visa will only post to your MR account once per month.

MR points from the VISA post once per month. They post on or about the same day each month, so; to tell when they will post, look at your MR account detail for the last few months, and you will see the date.

IF they will post in time, but you are still coming up a little short, you may want to consider buying a Mariott gift certificate(s). Which will add points, and you can then use them to offset incidentals at the hotel. Better than buying points............

If you have any friends that have a Marriott account, another option would be to see if they would be willing to transfer over the needed points. There is no charge for that and it is fairly easy to do (assuming you have access to a fax machine.)