Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: IB+ Gold, TK E+, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, IHG Diamond
Posts: 14,182
Booking an award night, then cancelling it later has always worked for my +1.
I recommend that you book the award night for a date well into the future, and then cancel after a few weeks "because your plans changed". Booking and cancelling on the same day is quite obviously not a legitimate activity - if you ever need to beg for mercy...