Air Rarotonga pricing?

Seeing prices at $509 RT for my dates in August, but thats 7 months away.

Will these prices go down closer to departure? March and April prices seem much lower.

Or is this standard winter pricing and wont change, except for the worse?

The prices displayed on the website are the fares that are available should you want to book now and change your mind later with dates/times etc - fully flexible. As you can see the lower fares (not the specials) havent been released yet. The specials will only be released nearest to the date of travel depending on pasenger loadings.

My suggestion is to keep checking fares online, according to your dates, to see what thrifty fares are released. Since your month of travel is August you will be competing with a lot of other visitors to the Cook Islands during this particular month, but also with the locals themselves!

Ony if you are a really flexible traveller who is in two minds whether or not to visit Aitutaki, I would suggest that you can hold off until you arrive into Raro (August) then approach one of the travel agent's there who can bundle cheapest fares, accommodation and transfers. But you'll risk losing the accommodation of your choice if you do it this way. So wait it out a little while longer, but not past May/June, and see how the prices are doing.

I dont work in any tourism industry. Just a regular inter-island traveller within the Cook Islands with a little local knowledge of how the systems work.

the low season ends around the third week of May.

My reply only now may be too late to help with your travel plans, colby. Been away touring the South Island.

When the Thrifty and really special fares are blocked out, that's because they havent been released yet. The best prices are released according to passenger loadings. If the aircraft looks to be half full or so, the airline offers discounted fares to fill their flight. The best deals come up on the site and are sold just as quickly.

However, I suggest that if you are still looking for a bargain when you arrive Raro, go straight to Island Hopper located opposite Parliament building in Nikao and speak with the outer-island travel specialist in the IH booking office. IH sell packages, and they can sell the afternoon and early evening flights out with the first flight back to Raro at good prices, but you also need to book accommodation as part of the package deal. Same too with Jetsave travel in Avarua, but their fares are not as good as the ones Island Hopper can sell (due to the affiliation that IH has with Air Raro).