Interestingly, I did not find any mention of when the points are to be posted in the Terms & Conditions (although I did not read every line). I believe three calendar weeks (Shanghai Marriott's email response) is simply not acceptable and five weeks is ridiculous. As far as credit card charge is concerned, Shanghai Marriott quoted a USD rate, charged me in Chinese Yuan at the time of check-out, reported the charge to AMEX 2 or 3 weeks later during which the Chinese currrency devalued, and AMEX naturally converted to USD at the current rate. You get the picture...