I see...if I hear you correctly, you're asking what if you're not using an upgrade award, but rather a pure award?

I think the system works the same - they will refund the difference. I haven't had it happen yet to me personally, but I had a family member on a waitlist for a round-trip (one segment didn't clear immediately) and MPC told me the protocol about refunding the difference if/when the other segment cleared. The second segment cleared within a day before I had to ticket it, so I can't say I actually SAW this happen, but MPC told me that's what would happen. All the agents seem pretty clear on the issue of not bilking us out of 2x one-ways all the time, so I think CX must've made it clear internally. I'm glad to see the positive change.