British cabbie well paid for long drive

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3140951/Cabbie-picks-up-1940-fare-for-revellers-ride-from-Portsmouth-to-Munich.html

Cabbie picks up £1,940 fare for revellers ride from Portsmouth to Munich
A taxi driver earned a bumper £1,940 when he picked up a fare in Portsmouth, Hants, and delivered him 740-miles away to the Munich beer festival.


By Alastair Jamieson
Last Updated: 6:53PM BST 05 Oct 2008

Mick Hogan, 54, was sitting at a rank when a man jumped in the back of his cab and explained he had missed the flight for his friend's stag weekend.

The father-of-three told the reveller –a man in his 30s called Dave - would need to pay £1,700 for the trip and a further £250 for the channel tunnel trip and a hotel for the night.

Mr Hogan said the man had tried to find alternative flights but had been unsuccessful. "He was obviously in a hurry and told me he had to get to Munich straight away. I told him he'd have to pay for the Channel Tunnel and a night for me in a hotel and he said he would and just showed me his wallet with notes in it so off we went.

"It felt surreal and a bit weird as we set off but it was certainly better and more profitable than being sat on the rank all day."

Mr Hogan went to his home in Portsmouth where he picked up some spare clothes and toiletries for his trip before setting off for France then to Belgium, then on to Luxembourg before arriving in Munich, Germany, 17 hours after he set off.

Mr Hogan added: "It is not something I would want to do every day – but it certainly beats taking a few old-age pensioners out to the shops.

"I assume he found all of his pals because he was on the phone to them trying to find out what bar they were in when we got near Munich.

"I didn't need to give him a lift back because he said he still had the ticket for the return flight. After a good night's sleep I was back on the autobahns and home to England late that night."