As channa mentioned, book the second ticket before you cancel. When you cancel an award, there is no guarantee those seats will again become available to book.
Originally Posted by
why fly
how fast does AMEX take to put the points to Aeroplan?
MR transfers are generally instant. (SPG takes time)
Originally Posted by
why fly
the WORST awards program in Star Alliance.
Not even close. (It certainly had a large number of devaluations recently, but it's still better than a good portion of non-us programs)