It can definitely go lower. But with the straight-up price being $500, why do a trick if you're only going to save $50-$100?
Well, for some people that could be considered a significant amount. Hell, that savings would get me a roundtrip Amtrak to my parents from NYC with a little change left over for a light lunch.
And the second part of my answer: I got to that price after about 5 minutes of looking and I already booked a far superior ticket in premium cabins during that AlItalia sale a couple weeks ago --- so no need to look further at this time.
But out of curiosity: how much lower are we talking?