New York: £235

Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow. Must be booked by December 31. Valid for departures January 10-February 28. Minimum stay one Saturday night, maximum one month. Thomas Cook Flights Direct (08701 111111, thomascook.com).

Hong Kong: £385

Lufthansa from Heathrow, London City, Manchester or Birmingham via Frankfurt. Must be booked by December 31. Valid for departures January 11-April 30. Minimum stay one Saturday night, maximum one month. Quest Worldwide Travel (0870 4423513, questtravel.com).

Sydney: £592

Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow via Hong Kong. Must be booked by December 6. Valid for departures March 28-June 15. No minimum stay, maximum one year. ebookers (0870 8146024, ebookers.com).

Los Angeles: £308

Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow. Valid for departures until December 15. Minimum stay one Saturday night, maximum one month. Trailfinders (020-7938 3939, trailfinders.com).

Amsterdam: £66.60

BMI from Heathrow. Must be booked online (£10 supplement if booked by phone). Valid for departures indefinitely. No minimum stay, maximum one year. BMI British Midland (0870 6070555, flybmi.com).

Paris: £94.90

British Airways from Manchester. Must be booked online (£15 supplement if booked by phone). Valid for departures indefinitely. No minimum stay, maximum one year. British Airways (0870 8509850, ba.com).

The pick of the rest

Funchal: £96

Thomas Cook Airlines charter from Manchester. Departs December 13 for seven nights. Avro (0870 4582847, avro.co.uk).

Mexico City: £375

KLM from Heathrow, London City, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Glasgow via Amsterdam. Valid for departures until December 15, then January 15-March 27. Minimum stay one Saturday night, maximum one month. Journey Latin America (020-8747 3108, journeylatinamerica.co.uk).

Tenerife South: £138

Excel Airways charter from Manchester. Departs January 11 for seven nights. Excel Airways (0870 1690169, excelairways.com).

Sharm el-Sheikh: £78

Britannia Airways charter from Gatwick. Departs December 6 for seven nights. Thomson Flights (0800 000747, thomsonflights.co.uk).

And the rail alternative Paris, Brussels: £59. Lille: £55

Eurostar from Waterloo or Ashford. Must be booked at least 21 days before departure. No advance booking required for Saturday or Sunday same day returns or trips including a Saturday night stay. Eurostar (08705 186186, eurostar.com).

· NB Fares can change rapidly. These were available in reasonable quantities at the time of writing, but they can sell out in a sudden rush.