[UAHaerospace]

while I don't have your model coach, my Palazzo on the Freightliner XCS chassis has a similar 'AUTO/LOWER' air bags lever...which is designed well and is very useful.

First, regardless of whether you leave the lever in Auto, or in Lower mode, when you put the coach in gear, the air bags will automatically start inflating, if they aren't already, to keep the coach from moving very far with the bags deflated. If you've ever 'felt' that, you'll know why - it would be a very rough ride, if not.
So, your air bags should inflate no matter if you remember to move the lever, or not.

For leveling: When we arrive, and know that the coach is positioned correctly, I simply pull the lever to LOWER to deflate the bags and 'sit' the coach down on it's frame. This give the coach a lower stance, and allows the leveling legs not to have to travel as far to reach the ground. The lower the coach sits, the easier it is to 'level' it, and the more stable it will stay - less movement while you are in and out and moving around.

Do you HAVE to lower the bags in order to level the coach? No. It's a personal decision, and neither is 'right' or 'wrong'...there may even be times when you want to do it one way versus the other, it's just an owner's choice.

Second)
RETRACTING: What I've found, though, when getting ready to leave, and retracting the leveling legs, is that sometimes the coach will want to 'bounce' DOWN when you hit the 'RETRACT' or 'All Retract' mode. Maybe this doesn't happen to some coaches, but with ours, it can be quite a ride down, bumping and jerking the whole way!
What's happening is that the hydraulics are just not able to 'smoothly' handle the weight of the coach as the legs retract, probably because it retracts much faster than it extends.

HOw to minimize this? I've found that simply pulling the air bags LEVER toward LOWER quickly, for only a second, allows enough air to leave the bags so that they now have more room to 'cushion' the weight of the coach while it rides down.
And, another option is to use the MANUAL mode, pushing the RETRACT for only a second at a time, which can also help, especially in situations where the legs are extremely extended.

Third) sometimes, after you've deflated the bags, and leveled, especially if you level with MANUAL mode, and the coach is not raised very far, when you get ready to leave and inflate the bags again, the legs are no longer on the ground, and retracting is smooth and easy. No issues. I, personally, believe that the AUTO Leveling mode simply puts the legs out too far, farther than they really need to be to be level. If you practice, you can probably do it better, easier, and more quickly, yourself.

I have the LCI Lippert Electronic Leveling system

: )