New York, Brittany and Gambia: Great getaways

New York in style

British Airways' flagship service between London City and New York JFK marked its fifth anniversary this week. "Son of Concorde" is a business-class only service from the Docklands airport. The outbound journey stops in Shannon in Ireland, but the inbound trip is non-stop. The cheapest return fare is £2,627, but if you begin and end your journey at a Continental airport, such as Amsterdam, you can save nearly £1,000 (ba.com).

Autumn in Brittany

For departures from 1 October, Brittany Ferries is cutting its prices for short breaks in northern France. An example: day sailings across the Channel for two people and a car, plus two nights in a three-star hotel in the medieval walled town of Dinan, with breakfast, for £119pp (brittanyferrries.com).

Monarch butterflies

While the future of the Monarch Group is being settled, the airline is continuing to fly – and is even offering some outstanding deals for travel in the coming three months. Many seats are being sold off extremely cheaply, such as £29 one-way from Manchester to Palma de Mallorca in December. The website's useful low-fare finder allows you to locate the bargains (monarch.co.uk).

November in Gambia

With an average eight hours of sunshine a day, Gambia has plenty of appeal in November. Olympic Holidays has a week in the three-star Palm Beach Hotel, close to Kotu beach, for £389pp including flights from Manchester on 5 November, breakfast and transfers (olympicholidays.com).