Thanks for the reply Davide,
Yes, I've noticed when I run the save process via ANY other way, (regular action run, DOM ExtendScripted, Action Manger scripted, AS3 CS6) - it always has the progress bar.
This just seems to be one of those things that I just can't do automatically the same way as if you just pushed "Cntrl-S". Save in Background - is a great feature. Now if only it could be done through automation... Anyone else have any luck?