Declined reservation counts for first 3 booking new listing discount?

[Lissette72]

We launched our listing and had not set the 20% new listing promotion before I got two back-to-back reservation requests that I had to decline because they didn't fit my house rules (1 had 2 large dogs, and the other more people than I could accommodate). I then had 1 booking that happened, and all went well—nothing since. I went to do the new listing discount to jump-start my listing since we have only had 1 booking, and the system declined because I have supposedly had three bookings already. Airbnb support says that declined reservations, even if they don't fit my house rules or occupancy, count for the 3-booking discount, and I can't use that discount anymore.  Seems highly unreasonable that requests that I cannot approve would count for this discount. 

What can I do now to boost my listing? Will regular promotion help?