Is it possible the create a pkg that doesn't require root access (user & password prompt) The title says it all really, is it possible to create a pkg that can install without the user requiring to enter their password?
There's an option in PackageMaker.

You can still install into /Applications too, but the user would need to be in the admin group because the default permissions for /Applications are drwxrwxr-x+ 90 root  admin, so as long as the user is in admin then they'll have write permissions.