My suspicious nature or is something being tried?

I was just looking at some cruise posts and they are for a cruise that is a year from now. Now if I book (not) am I not giving them a free loan for a year? Based on the current economy couldn't they raise this advanced revenue and then go out of business before the cruise date?

Another issue. I was looking at transatlantic air travel and a few airlines are not accessible by phone. So if I have an issue they don't exist.

Is this the wave of the future?

Lets see. There is a (crooked) business  opportunity here. To succeed 1. Have a name 2. Offer good deals for the future  3. When you have received enough money, skip.

I like to think I'm honest and maybe that's why I'm not wealthy.

Isn't that what's known as a fly-by-night business operator?

And Jim if you're worried about the solvency of your cruise company either buy insurance or don't buy tickets.

I hear what you're saying...I give a cruise company $1,000 for a trip I'm taking in 12 months, they put $1,000 in their bank account and collect interest off it for a year.  After 12 months, they put a portion of that $1,000 towards my trip (because they are no doubt making an instant profit off that or they wouldn't be in business to begin with), the other portion is theirs...oh and btw, they also get to keep the interest my $1,000 made them while it was sitting in their bank account for 12 months...NICE! 

(Obviously the whole process is slightly more complicated than that, but yeah...I get it!)

New marketing ad for cruise companies:

Pay for your cruise now, take your cruise in the year 2011...AND...we'll give you back the $750 we made in interest while your money sat in our bank account for two years!!

Pay for your cruise now, take your cruise in the year 2011...AND...we'll give you back the $750 we made in interest while your money sat in our bank account for two years!!

Sign me up for whatever account* offers 87.5% return per year.

My guess is that this is a sort of "lock in the price" thing. Buy now, it's only $1,000. Buy 3 months out from the cruse, it'll be $4,000. Obviously, make sure that there's some sort of money-back guarantee if the cruise is not available when it's supposed to happen, or the company goes out of business, what-have-you.

*Non ponzi-scheme