Airline refund when requested?

I had heard an urban travel legend: If you find the airfare for a flight you booked has decreased, just call the airline and ask for a refund. They won't give it if you don't ask, and the change in fare has to be for the EXACT same fare you originally booked, but just ask and they shall refund you.

For the first time in my life, I had the chance to give this a try.

I'm going to Vegas in November, and booked my airfare last week. It was a reasonable fare, but went up $25 overnight - I didn't want to pay any more so I booked but in the back of my head I was thinking it might go down.

And tonight I was correct when I found the fare was now $45 cheaper than when I originally booked. At first, I said "Damn you, Northwest" but then I Googled "refund when flight price goes down" and found several sources that confirmed the urban legend was true.

WTF, might as well give it a try. I called the regular 800 for NWA (was on hold for less than 10 seconds - nice work NWA), and gave them my original trip confirmation code. I explained the flight price went down since I bought the ticket last week, and I'd like a refund of the difference in price. Please.

I was told there was a $25 admin fee (here's where the "Damn you, Northwest" original thought comes in handy) but they'd be happy to issue me a $20 voucher for the difference less the fee. What the hell, that's better than nothing. I should get the voucher via email within a few days.

Lessons learned:

• If you're about 2 months out from the trip, fares almost always go up a bit before they drop to the lowest fares you're gonna get. Don't get scared - wait for it to drop those extra bucks before you book. I always get scared and book a few days too early - did with Mary's wedding and then this trip. I need to grow a pair and wait a few more days.

• Don't be scared to book a fare you think is "fair" 6-8 months out -- keep watching the fare (use Orbitz's tool to watch the fare for your travel dates) and holler at them when the price fluxes. I can't be sure, but I bet if my fare goes down another $45 I could call again and get another $20 voucher. Keep this in mind.
  

• Just think about if companies did this with every plane ticket they booked. Could be worth many dollas. Think about it with the work trips you book...