New York, Brittany and Gambia: Great getaways

Where to go and what to see

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).