South - Beware: Not enough rental cars at MSY

Just a heads up - I had a National Emerald Aisle reservation in New Orleans for 12/26, but when we arrived at the lot at 2pm, there were *no* cars, and about 12 people waiting. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes for a car to get returned and get cleaned. People waiting for minivans or SUVs were advised the wait could be up to 2 hours.

I also checked other agencies: Hertz, Avis and Budget said there were no available cars for walk-ins. Enterprise may have had some, but there were about 40 people waiting on line at the airport, so I didn't bother to check.

A friend said he had the same experience at Alamo at 10am on 12/26; and also just before Thanksgiving.

Seems to have been rectified - when I turned in my car on 1/2, the National lot was full, and there was a truck unloading new cars

Did the staff say why they ran out of rental cars?

High demand due to the holidays, plus cars moved to Houston after Ike, plus the local franchise had difficulty getting credit to buy new cars.