I have a five night award stay (Stay 5, Pay for 4) next month that I need to cancel. I seem to recall on this forum a recommendation to first change the award stay to a paid stay, which automatically redeposited the points, and then cancel the paid stay rather than simply cancelling the award reservation outright. I thought some folks had issues with the redeposit when doing the latter. Anyone have any recent experience with cancelling an award stay that can offer some advice? Thanks in advance.

UPDATE 7/30/21: Thanks to everyone who offered advice on this question. Yes, it appears that I was thinking about past issues with cancelling a free credit card night, rather than an award night booked with points. I just cancelled the reservation, and points were instantly returned to my account. Many thanks once again for your help.