Stopover in Rarotonga

Hi all,
when i search online Sydney to Aitutaki return, it always goes via Rarotonga, you cant go direct, so i was wondering does anyone know if you can make Rarotonga a stop over as part of that flight somehow?
Ive noticed alot of places that you have to change planes at you can leave the airport and fly out again on a different date
so im wondering if i do a Sydney to Aitutaki return, if i can delay the flight from Rarotonga for a week :)
anyone got any advice here?

I saved me, hubby and our girls $4000 on world tickets in march, world tickets all came back at $14,000+ for the four of us, so i booked Sydney to London one way with a 1 week stopover in Krabi Thailand and then booked London to Sydney one way with a 1 week stop over in LA for disneyland, came in at what we expected our world tickets to be $10,000 :)

so trying to do a simular thing here :)

I'm reasonably sure that you can book a through ticket from Sydney to Aitutaki, with Air NZ code-sharing with Air Raro on the RAR - AIT sector, if there isn't a stopover on Rarotonga first. The only domestic airline in the Cook Islands is Air Raro.

I dont know whether or not you can fly from Sydney to Raro, stop there for 1 week before continuing over to Aitutaki for a stay on that island, as one way through fare. I think you'll find that this arrangement is classed as 2 return trips - one being international return travel, and the other a domestic return trip Your best bet is to contact Air New Zealand by email, or speak to one of their travel centre staff to enquire what's possible with stopovers.

You could also email Island Hopper Vacations on Rarotonga to see what they say, and if they can offer better prices? Certainly if you were to book accommodation on each island as well their deals are fairly good.

Depending on the date of travel, there are specials/cheaper seats available periodically; more so on the last flights over to Aitutaki, and the first morning flight from Aitutaki to Rarotonga.

Should be no problem. You're probably not saving much by booking the Aitutaki flight on the long-haul carrier anyway. The only air service between Raro and Aitutaki is Air Rarotonga.

Just ask your carrier from Sydney (I'm guessing ANZ) if there is an extra charge for a layover. If there is, just check the fare for Raro only and then add the cost of the Air Raro ticket available on their web site airraro.com

Be sure and check the rates across a week or so for the Sydney-Raro flight they really vary.

Then compare the two.

Ok thanks, yeah i have a feeling the air fares being fairly expensive for island hopping will have a good charge to add the stop over.
but since typing this email, i got some good news which means we should be able to afford the Aitutaki return anyway, thought our income was about to drop about $400 a week which was endangering this amazing trip im absolutely dying to do ASAP, and now we find out it may go up an extra $100 instead LOL :) well for a while and then might drop $400 not sure, but should be long enough to pay for the trip (i hope) aaarrrrgggg will make it even more wonderful once we get there :)

I appreciate that you will be travelling with family, and that it's already a 5 hour journey if you take the direct flight between Sydney and Rarotonga. If the fares work out better to travel through to Aitutaki as one continuous journey, I think that the potential to save money and put this towards other expenses will be worth it.

I've now checked the departure times for the international flight, and see that it reaches Rarotonga around 7am on a Saturday morn (local time). Air NZ fares show that you then transfer to the 10:30am Air Raro flight, which will allow you sufficient time to proceed through immigration/customs to check in by 9:30/10:00am for the domestic sector.

When is your proposed date of travel? If it's during 2012 I wouldn't be leaving it too long to make confirmed bookings - especially airfares. Since we are almost into June, you will begin to notice that seats have been snapped up and the fares are beginning to rise due to demand.
It may well be that Virgin Australia are offering better fares for passengers to transit in Auckland. I certainly recommend that you look at both airlines to see what's preferable to your circumstances. I add that VA has improved its services considerably since it now code-shares its Tasman flights with Air NZ. If it helps I travelled from RAR - AKL - BNE return in August 2012 and was impressed with VA. For me it had the edge over Air NZ and I'm a Kiwi die-hard when it comes to our airline.

Additionally I think that the Aussie market is now discovering Aitutaki. Therefore accommodation on that island; especially family sized villas are receiving more focus compared to previous years. Pleased to hear that your family income is remaining in tact which will enable this family trip to eventuate. You will all love Aitutaki!