Would you pay £12,500 for a flying butler?

It's the latest must-have for the world's pampered millionaires: a flying butler to ensure you don't have to endure the horror of having to turn down your own bedsheets or fill your own glass while you're in the air. Etihad Airways - owned by the Abu Dhabi government - has decided that cabin crew won't cut the mustard for their most minted customers, and has employed a team of 13 flying butlers.

The Daily Mail reported that the butlers include three Brits: Richard Burrows from Manchester, Eren Wirizlay from Telford and Georgina Henderson from Southport - all picked from the airlines existing chefs or food and beverage managers.
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They will be clad in practical tailcoats and white gloves, and will wait on the customers of the airline's fanciest suites - in a new plane called The Residence. There are three of these suites, which cost £12,500 for a flight, and feature a private bathroom (complete with a shower), double bedroom and a lounge - so it's a select service for a moneyed few.

The Sun reported that the butlers have been trained in London by the Savoy Hotel's head butler. They are now experts in etiquette, valet skills and concierge services, and will start their first shifts on The Residence's first flight in December.

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Butlers on the cheap
It's fair to say that the £12,500 flights (complete with the butler) are going to make travel a slightly more pleasurable experience. However, if you fancy service from a butler, you don't have to go nearly so far.

You could take a leaf out of the Royal Family's book and hire your own. They recently advertised for a butler at £30,000 - but if that sounds too rich for your blood, they advertised for a trainee butler in 2012 at a salary of just £15,000. If you clubbed together with a group of friends, you could get a butler for just shy of one day a fortnight for little more than a typical gym membership.

If you don't fancy dealing with a trainee, you could try any number of hotels that offer butlers as part of the package. Claridges, for example is offering a one night stay in one its suites - complete with butler service - for £1,200 a night.

Alternatively, some of the high-end domestic staff agencies offer butlers for events for around £500 - so you can bring them in whenever you feel the need of some pampering. Some of the much lower-end - and often saucier - options are available from £40 for an event, just don't expect them to be particularly up-to-date with their etiquette training.

But perhaps the cheapest butlers on offer start at £8 a day and are offered by one hotel in St Fillans. Their pet butlers will see to your furry friend's every need wile you concentrate on relaxing.

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