As flight cancellations rise, people are turning to trains, car rentals and creative solutions to get to their destinations

By Alaa Elassar, CNN

(CNN) — Xavier Vega and his partner, Soluna Vega, cheered in relief as the “Welcome to Connecticut” sign came into view. It marked the end of an unplanned 17-hour highway odyssey home after their flight became one of more than 1,000 cancellations on Saturday alone tied to the ongoing government shutdown.

The couple, who had to take a train, bus and a rental car on Saturday to drive over 1,100 miles from Florida, are among thousands of travelers whose plans have been derailed by the widespread cancellations – and are searching for other ways to get where they’re going.

Rental car companies have been flooded with one-way bookings. Avis, Hertz and Turo all reported sharp increases in demand as passengers scrambled to make it to their destinations by any means necessary.

An end to the travel woes could be in sight, with Senate lawmakers voting on a key step toward reopening the government Sunday night – but until then, frustrated passengers continue to face flight delays and cancellations.

For some like the Vegas, the disruptions have meant resorting to long drives, costly rebookings and days of uncertainty, all ripple effects of a shutdown that continues to grind the nation’s air system to a halt.

The marathon to find their way home

Exhausted and running on little sleep, Xavier and Soluna Vega set out on a 1,390-mile dash from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Connecticut, rushing to make it home on time for work Monday after spending $900 on a rental car – just two of countless travelers forced into marathon drives by the shutdown.

The nightmare began with what initially was a four-hour delay.

“Our (Saturday) flight went from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., to 8 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., and we just felt so hopeless,” Xavier Vega told CNN from their rental car on Sunday while his partner drove.

The couple had disembarked from a cruise in Miami with their best friend and took a train to Orlando, only to face a nearly 10-hour flight delay that ended in cancellation. The situation continued to worsen; a music festival in Orlando had wiped the city’s supply of rental cars. Desperate to get home, they managed to hop on a bus, which they nearly missed, to Daytona Beach, scrambling for Plan C.

But when they arrived, the situation was just as bleak; not a single rental car was available. Then, by sheer chance, a break came when they least expected it.

“We got really lucky with a gentleman who happened to drop off his rental before his flight got canceled, so we ended up really cramped in a Kia Soul,” Vega said, remarkably positive for someone who’d just pulled an eight-hour overnight drive.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, I just wanted to get home.”

From backup plan to the only option

Sean and Kelsey Fishkind were just hours away from what should have been a perfect third anniversary: a romantic night at “The Phantom of the Opera” in Baltimore. But two days ago, their celebration nearly fell apart.

On Friday, the couple was en route from Boston to Washington, DC, when their flight from their layover in New York’s LaGuardia Airport was abruptly canceled, and the next available option wasn’t until the following afternoon. But with the real possibility even that flight could be delayed or scrapped, the Fishkinds realized they’d have to find a backup plan, fast.

At around 11 p.m., the couple says their only solution was a rental car, but finding one was easier said than done.

According to Hertz, one-way rental bookings over the weekend surged 20% compared to the same period last year, and Turo reported a 30% jump in rentals on Friday alone.

“We’ve seen an increase in one-way rental activity as airlines adjust flight schedules and travelers explore alternative ways to reach their destinations,” an Avis spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

The Fishkinds were among the lucky ones, managing to secure a vehicle just in time for the four-and-a-half-hour drive to DC.

But securing a rental car was the beginning of their ordeal. The couple says Delta Air Lines had assured them they’d be reimbursed for the car rental, but after hours of frustrating calls and multiple claims, they tell CNN they’re still left with no clear answers.

CNN has reached out to Delta for comment regarding the incident and car rental reimbursement in cases related to the ongoing cancellations.

Delta said in an earlier a statement to customers that expense reimbursements aren’t available “for flights that are delayed or canceled due to adverse weather events or other circumstances outside of Delta’s control, including without limitation for hotels, rental cars, meals, ground transportation and other pre-paid expenses.”

The Department of Transportation has said while airlines are required to issue full refunds, “they will not be required to cover secondary costs,” which is the usual procedure when a cancellation or delay isn’t the carrier’s fault.

For Sean Fishkind, a Federal Communications Commission employee furloughed due to the shutdown and without a paycheck for over 40 days, the stress is compounded.

“From my perspective, with the impact it has on employees and the impact it has on the public, because I can’t do my job to serve the public, this is just another reminder of the more direct ways it’s starting to impact people,” he said.

“It kind of feels like they’re not doing the things they need to to try to come to a resolution.”

Patience and kindness go a long way, travelers say

Despite the frustration and chaos, many travelers are navigating the shutdown’s stress with unexpected kindness.

“We were on the appreciative side,” said Xavier Vega, a former TSA worker of 10 years who was on the front line during the 2018-2019 government shutdown.

“A lot of times working for TSA, people hated us. But during the shutdown, people actually had empathy and were willing to help us,” he said. “They would give us Starbucks gift cards to get a coffee to kind of brighten up our days a little bit.”

Now, Vega works at a group home for people with schizophrenia, many of whom lost their SNAP food aid benefits when the ongoing shutdown froze funding from the US Department of Agriculture. The situation remains tense. On Saturday, the US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to pause full SNAP food aid benefits for now, leaving recipients once again scrambling to make ends meet.

“It’s very difficult to tell them, ‘Hey, you might not be eating this month.’ That also added into the understanding portion of it, because I’m experiencing it as someone who has mouths to feed,” Vega said.

He added he also worried about travelers who don’t have the same flexibility or privilege when travel plans fall apart.

“I’m thinking, there was a gentleman in a wheelchair at the airport,” Vega said. “How is he going to get home? He’s reliant on the certainty that his flight will get there on time, that his pickup (driver) from the airport will be there at the time he says he’s going to be there.”

For David Tilden, the shutdown turned a birthday getaway into a logistical nightmare. After an eight-hour delay at LaGuardia and a last-minute cancellation at 11 p.m., Tilden told CNN he and his wife rented a car and endured a 14-hour drive back to Atlanta.

Tilden says he thinks the crisis isn’t just about politics—it’s about a lack of basic kindness, particularly from government systems.

“I believe in the power of kindness and tenderness and love, and I believe in the conversation, and that’s gone in Washington. It’s disgusting, it’s traumatizing, and they should all be ashamed themselves,” he added.

‘A fundamental failure in the United States government’

Although travelers are trying to stay optimistic, the outlook so far remains grim.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN air travel could be “reduced to a trickle” as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and airlines continue to implement FAA-mandated reductions in flights.

Airlines will be required to gradually increase those cuts over the next week, with Duffy warning flight reductions could increase to 20% if the shutdown doesn’t end soon.

Meanwhile, the Senate convened a rare Saturday session, though senators did not vote and there is no deal in sight on a potential funding compromise. Majority Leader John Thune said he intends to keep the chamber in session until a deal is reached and the government reopens.

“What’s happening in Washington is like two kids watching their parents fight every day because they hate each other,” said Tilden, adding the shutdown and its impact on Americans is a stark contradiction to the values of American democracy and unity.

“This is not the United States of America. This is the divided States of America. They’re hypocritical when they stand up and chant USA,” Tilden said.

For Vega, the focus, he says, should be on the people most affected — the vulnerable, like the residents he works with who struggle with mental health issues worsened by the sudden loss of SNAP benefits.

“I don’t think whatever is being argued in Washington right now is more important than people having food on the table or being able to get from point A to point B with some level of certainty,” he said.

But if the shutdown stretches into the holidays, Vega believes it will signal a far deeper crisis beyond canceled flights.

“At that point, there has been a fundamental failure in the United States government, and we as citizens have to speak up on that,” he said.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Gordon Ebanks contributed to this report.

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