Air travel nightmare leaves stranded passengers driving long hours, scrambling for rental cars

HOUSTON - The holiday travel nightmare put a real strain on rental car services, as hundreds of people opted to drive instead of waiting days to get where they were going. 

"Everyone's struggling to get home. So everyone's making reservations all over the city, because the airport has shut down reservations," said Jessica Roberts, Assistant Branch Manager at an Enterprise location near the Galleria. 

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She says they've seen a rush of travelers coming from the airport, desperate for anything with an engine and 4-wheels.

"They've been coming here trying to get cars, paying $1,000 to $2,000 trying to get home to Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, California, we are completely out of cars," Roberts said. 

Massive flight cancelations from Southwest Airlines have left people all across the country stranded with only one option to get where they're going. 

"Southwest is not flying out of Birmingham, Alabama, as of right now until the 29th," said Darrius Cope. 

Cope and his family spent Christmas in Alabama, they should've made it back Monday morning on a Southwest flight. Instead, they drove more than 10 hours back to Houston.  

"I'm pretty sure there's going to be a one-way fee associated, but I mean we just gotta do what we have to do," Cope said. 

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Thankfully they were able to keep the same rental car they'd been driving for the weekend, but that's a part of what's causing the car shortage problem.

"They're saying the issue is bringing the cars back, cars that they were supposed to have here stocked for us, they're not here. Because people are keeping them, because they're not able to fly where they're supposed to go," Jaime Garza explained.

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Garza and his family made it from Orlando to Houston, but their connecting Southwest flight was nixed. FOX 26 caught them waiting around for a rental car to be returned, so they could make the 5-hour drive home to south Texas. 

"Our flight was canceled, so we're trying to drive home. But we've been waiting here for about an hour to try and get our rental car. We haven't got a car yet, but I think it looks like we're going to be okay," Garza said. 

Southwest says they are paying for rental cars and for hotels of people who couldn't get to their destinations. 

Cope told FOX 26 his family received a $200.00 voucher per person and a full refund.