If ticket price goes down, will changing itin = refund?
 

I am reading that change fees are gone forever (for all, right? not just status?) but a fare differential may apply. Of course I understand that if switching to more expensive option, but what if the price goes down? Then is it just a wash or is this a return of the old fare price guarantee? I am guessing it's just a wash but i can't see anything about refunds...

Is the rule also consistent for mileage tickets? (Spoiled by WN and just canceling points tickets to rebook if price drops.)

In my experience, it essentially works like the old low fare guarantee. If you notice that the price dropped, go to change your flight but keep the dates and destination the same. On the next page, you should be able to select your same flight and receive a credit for it.

Yes. Who do you think you’re flying, United? 😉

Even UA finally relented and is beginning to offer a credit when rebooking on cheaper flights.

I have a related question... I have an SFO>ANC nonstop roundtrip flight in late June where the total fare dropped about $120 per ticket. I went to the "Change Reservation" option, and when I choose "Cancel this trip and use the value toward a new trip", I cannot get it to show the same itinerary (it shows the nonstop in one direction or the other, but it doesn't show both directions nonstop liked my original booking.) I went on the chat and asked them if they could rebook the identical trip (hoping I would pocket the difference as flight credit), but the agent refused. They said my only option was to cancel, wait potentially 7 days to get the flight credit, and then rebook. Do I have any options here? Does a flight credit refund really take 7 days?

Typically crediting to AS Wallet is instantaneous. Most cases I've seen it take close to 7 days are when you're within 24 hr of purchase and still eligible for full refund, but I think it's taken a day once or twice when beyond that before, too.
Given it's a pretty significant amount of fare difference, I'd probably take the risk on cancelling hoping it shows up immediately.

^ same. I don't think I've ever encountered a lag on credit of wallet funds. As noted, credit card refunds are a different animal.

If you have a multi-leg itinerary and one of the legs goes down in price, is there any way to change just that one leg (to the same flight) and get the credit for the price difference?

Update - I did just successfully change a mileage ticket and the miles are nicely just redeposited, piece o' cake.

What I cannot seem to make happen, on another ticket, is to get it to re-price when a segment dropped in cost without changing it to another flight. I suppose I could technically change it and then change it back but I don't want to risk it for the $20 credit or whatever.

But UA will charge you a $50 fee to process a change to get a lower fare and it requires an agent intervention. Alaska and even American can be done online with no fee.

If it is a roundtrip booking, they will re-price both outbound and return if you try to change either one. There's no way around this. Also, if the "segment" is part of a same-day trip in one direction, the price dropping on an individual segment is not relevant if you are on a through fare covering multiple segments.

Following that last part on how itineraries are combined - outside of companion fares, is there any point to booking roundtrip itineraries any more?

Amex Platinum, and perhaps other cards, require purchasing a roundtrip for Trip Cancellation and Interruption protections.

This is my experience as well--you either have to change flights or cabin. It is indeed possible to switch right back, but that runs the risk inventory goes away/doesn't come back.

Also, it is my experience you can only do about 4 changes online, and have to call after that. Finally, unlike other posters in this thread, I have occasionally had money get held up by the "system" for a few days before making its way to my wallet---although the email option seems more reliable.

Just wanted to add that I had a non-saver reservation paid for with wallet funds. It just went down in price but AS' website wouldn't let me change the flight and collect the credit like WN does. I canceled my reservation and got concerned that it said it could take up to 7 days for my funds to return to my wallet but it happened instantaneously. I then rebooked my same flight at the lower fare and the difference added to my wallet funds.