The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Double Dip Your Travel Rewards & Discovering Perce Rock, Quebec
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We talk a lot about Travel Rewards on this show so this week Travel Expert Onanta Forbes joins me to discuss how to double dip to help you to earn those rewards faster. And then we'll head to Quebec and visit the Gaspe region and in particular Perce Rock, one of Canada's most iconic natural landmarks overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast, where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. We talk a lot about travel rewards on this show, so in a few seconds, travel expert Ornando Forbes will join me to discuss how to double dip and help you earn those rewards faster. And then we'll head to Quebec and visit the Gaspé region and in particular Perse Rock, one of Canada's most iconic natural landmarks overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's spectacular, so I'm excited to learn more.
Double Dip Your Travel Rewards
SPEAKER_01But first, let's kick things off. Chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to talk about the latest travel news trends, and travel tips in general. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. OnantaForbes.com is her website. Hello, Onanta.
SPEAKER_03How are you?
SPEAKER_01I'm well, thank you. We're gonna talk about uh double dipping, maximizing your rewards, travel miles, whatever you want to call them. Uh and I'm gonna give a shout out to uh my good friend Patrick Soika, who uh comes on regularly to talk about uh rewards. If you want to learn everything about rewards and how to earn them and all that stuff, you can go to his website, rewardscanada.ca. It's a uh wealth of information and you can learn all kinds of things. But today we're gonna run down just some basics, right?
SPEAKER_03Right. And you know, you make a good point um about Patrick's website because this is not easy uh learn like you have to learn what you're doing because there's lots of ins and outs of it. And the reason why I kind of thought of this topic this week is because this um Aeroplan and Hyatt have a new partnership and they allow their members to link their accounts to enjoy reciprocal benefits. So that means two-way point transfers, status fast track, and cross-program redemptions, as well as accelerated point earnings. So again, it can get a little complicated, but I think the biggest thing is choose your partnerships, choose your alliances. Um, if you fly with Air Canada, there might be um benefits looking at other Star Alliance point uh partners to earn airplan points, and then there's other partners in um like Avias that has British Airways, Cater for Qatar, Airlines, Iberia, Finair, and Airlines. It's just who you fly the most with. You choose a program that offers you the best value for your travel style. And then, you know, I guess I'm gonna back it up a little bit. Join um loyalty programs because they're free. And so before you travel, sign up for airline, hotel, cruise line, or car rental loyalty programs that you may be using. And then you can start earning rewards from your very first booking, and then save your membership numbers on your phone or travel profile. Um, so they're they're handy because there's uh I'm always for s forever looking for me too.
SPEAKER_01I was chuckling at that because I had to do that. Because, you know, you check in at a hotel and oh yeah, I do have a rewards uh number, but I gotta find it somewhere. And so yeah, it's just a lot easier to do it that way.
SPEAKER_03Right. And you could do it on your Apple wallet or or your Google, what I don't know what Google wallet is, but you could do it on both. And then um, you know, for you could stay loyal to one hotel brand, and and and that means not spreading all your stays across multiple wholesale chains, concentrate them on one brand wherever possible. So a popular one is Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG One Rewards. So you can you can earn points faster and may qualify for elite benefits such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, late checkout, and bonus points. And that comes in handy. I remember one time not even thinking of when we went to Australia for part of our long stay a couple years ago, I used a lot of IHG, and then all of a sudden they say, Oh, you've earned it up for a free night. And you don't even realize, but it it you know it it does come in handy. Absolutely. And I've um transferred my they sometimes have programs where you can transfer from one program to another to get more points. So I transferred one time my Mariette Bonvoy to my Aeroplan.
SPEAKER_01I did that too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know, right? We're so smart.
SPEAKER_01What a coffee cat I am.
SPEAKER_03And then you can um double dip with airlines and hotel programs, like we've been talking about, with the aeroplan and the world of Hyatt. So um one vacation can guarantee rewards in multiple programs and as one at once. So, you know, think about that as well. And don't forget your car rentals. Many travelers overlook car rental rewards, and so um there are companies like Avis, Budget Hertz, um National, and Alamo all offer their own loyalty programs, but they also may uh partner with airlines so you can earn airline points, car rental rewards, uh toilet card points, all from one rental. And then use the right credit card, and the right credit card is what works for you. So for me, I like um airplan visa. Like a stick of gum goes on my visa card because I want those points, damn it. And it's it's sadly true, right?
SPEAKER_01I have uh the Aeroplan American Express. So, and when you talk about double dipping, if I'm booking um uh an Air Canada flight, for example, well, I'm gonna get the aeroplan from the flight and I'm gonna use my um aeroplan Amex card, so I get points from using my card. So I'm I'm double dipping that way.
SPEAKER_03Right. And in some cases they have promos where you could triple dip. Um also for those shoppers out there, when you know, um before your you buy online, check whether your airline has a shopping portal. So for Canadians, the Airplan eStore allows members to earn additional airplan points at hundreds of popular suppliers. And that includes Amazon.
SPEAKER_01I know I was just gonna say it includes Amazon. So if you're an Amazon person like my wife is, uh make sure you got it linked because you'd be uh missing out on a lot of points.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, your wife's a smart girl because that's exactly how many people buy on Amazon, right?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And then different you and register for different promotions. You might think, oh my gosh, another email. But airlines and hotel regularly offer promotions such as double points, triple points, bonus nights, and extra elite qualifying credits. Um, the catch is many um require that you ri register before your trip. But it's 30 seconds, do it. You might get lots of points because of it.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And our good friend Patrick Soika from Rewards Canada uh has his newsletter out, and he'll send out um a notice saying that so well Hyatt this week has a promotion on triple points or whatever. So if you are, if you're gonna book a room anyways, book it while they've got the promotion on. So you uh and I did that actually um once and got an extra two thousand points by doing that.
SPEAKER_03Right off. Excellent. And you know, you and that leads to linking partner programs because I know when I'm at an airport and I book I link my Uber account to my airplan account, uh um, you can get points for that. Plus, not even realizing, um, but if you do this X number of times and I didn't realize I did it, I got like a flight credit with Air Canada. So my next Air Canada flight, you could you have a flight credit. But look in your airplane account and look at um your what you're getting for rewards because sometimes you just forget. Or people, tons of people in this world love Starbucks and it's a part of their daily life. You can link Starbucks to your airplane point.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you can. So it's uh that's a good point, uh, because it changes uh all the time, right? Some they get add on new partners. Sometimes they uh don't part they quit their partnership with some uh some other areas too. So uh it's good to check once in a while just to see what's there.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, yeah. So lots of ways to you know um add value to your travel and hopefully save you some money. Um and uh, you know, go further. Like no nothing's better than an upgrade, right? So if your points can get you an upgrade, let's go.
SPEAKER_01Or even a free check bag or uh something like that. I know I used my Delta Sky Miles for a free check bag, which was cool. So yeah, every little bit counts, right?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, because I had a guest or a client that yesterday we booked them to go on a vacation package to Mexico and they go, well, you know what? I'm gonna use my WestJet points to to uh pay for the seats. Wonderful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because the seats are not cheap anymore.
SPEAKER_01No, they are not, that is for sure. Uh people can get uh more information on how to double dip and do all kinds of things to earn more rewards so you can uh travel uh economically, let's put it that way. Uh rewardscanada.ca, Patrick Soika is the one that runs it, and uh he's uh often a guest on our show. So uh a wealth of information there. And Onanta Forbes is also a wealth of information. Uh, you can check her out on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes, and onantaforbes.com is her website. Uh good chatting with you, Onanta. Uh good luck collecting points.
SPEAKER_03Have a good week.
SPEAKER_01This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at the informedtraveler.org. You can also check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informtraveler, or on x at informtraveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and photos from our recent and past interviews and stories. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our July issue is available now. Just go to our website, the informtraveler.org, click on the newsletter button, and it will take you right there. Or you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month.
Discovering Perce Rock, Quebec
SPEAKER_01Well, one of Canada's most iconic natural landmarks is Perse Rock, located in the Gaspay Peninsula of Quebec, overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's an absolutely spectacular view. So joining me now to share some insight on visiting Perse Rock and the Gaspay area in general is Melody Schaefer. She is a travel and trade and press relations officer at Le Quebec Maritime. Quebecmaritime.ca is the website. Bonjour Melody, thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_04Bonjour, Randy. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01I'm excited to learn all about uh the Gaspay Peninsula area, and in particular, we're going to talk about the uh Perse Rock, uh, which is uh I'm looking on your website, QuebecMaritime.ca, some incredible images of all the things you can do there. But uh to start out, let's just talk about the Gaspay area, where it is in Quebec, how to get there, all those logistical things.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm. Yes, for sure. So uh the Gaspe Peninsula is quite in the east uh part of Quebec. So it's the eastern part uh of the Quebec Maritime and the Quebec province. So to get there, there are uh many options that people can uh can uh can follow either by the road because our region are the essence of a road trip mainly. So people can rent a car uh from Quebec, Montreal, and go all around uh the Bass Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie tour. This is the the first road trip that we uh we try to uh to highlight on. To have an idea of the distance, it can be uh as long as uh Vancouver Calgary distance, but uh with the coastline. So it gives you an idea how how long it could be. We normally um suggest at least a week to 10 days if you want to discover everything on the Gaspe Peninsula. We will cover that in a few moments. Um, the second option could be to come by plane. Uh, there is a Gaspe uh airport, a local airport that is connected through Montreal and Quebec also. We have many uh local companies uh that connect there. Uh and it could be also uh a development, um a new line with the Porto Airlines that we are getting uh ahead of. Um so yeah, that could be the first option for logistics. Um as for the main activities in the Gaspé Peninsula, so there is of course the Percy Rock uh in the Percy village. So the Percy Rock is part of a national park, uh, which is the Ile Bonaventure and Percy uh National Park. Um there are many activities that people can do there, and especially to go on the Bonaventure Islands to explore uh the history of the fishing uh in the area and also the Northern Gannets colony. It's um it's a maritime bird uh with a yellow head and blue eyes, and uh it's the most important colony uh in North America. There are uh almost as much as the 1,100 birds that you can see there. Um it's really uh a family as more as a couple activity or with friends. Uh it's like uh 20 minutes boat ride from the Percy village. Uh, and if people do not want uh to go hiking there, they can just go around the Percy Rock and go around uh the Bonaventure Island. Uh they can see the birds also from the boat. And for the ones who want to go uh hiking on Bonaventure Island, uh, there is like uh one hour and a half uh hiking uh way and back to see the birds, and it can be as close as you and me if we were talking in person. So it's pretty impressive uh to see them go. So this is the first uh activity that normally people uh want to see in Per se. Uh for those who want to see the Percy Rock from above, there is also the Percy UNESCO Global Geopark, uh, which offers uh a suspended glass platform that people uh can go uh see from the from uh above. So they have a really nice um panoramic view uh upon the Percy village, of course, the Percy Rock, the Bonaventure Island, and it's a really nice uh activity uh to add to the bucket list. If people uh want, they can uh go by hiking um in the geopark or with the electrical shuttle that is offered uh many times uh during the day. So those are for the two uh main ways to see the Perse Rock. Um, otherwise, uh in Perse Village, which is quite a cute village to discover, and you can spend really at least two to three days there, um, there is a new boardwalk that people can uh can go to. They offer historical walking tours for people more interested uh in the the codfishing history and everything uh that has been built for per se. Um it's offered in a safe guided uh tours with uh photos and uh anecdotes, and people can also download them uh in um uh PDFs if they want to uh to discover then uh later on. Um as for the gastronomy, because of course uh in Gaspe and Gaspés, there is many, many uh fishing uh experiences and uh meals that uh people can discover as we are uh connected to the Saint Lawrence River and Gulf in this area. So, for example, the Maison du Pêcheur, which is the fishing house, is one of the uh most iconic addresses in per se. You can have lobster, you can have cod, you can have uh anything you you want uh in uh in a gourmet uh kind of dish. So it's uh quite uh interesting to discover. Other than that, the canteens uh are really um very much developed uh in the in the village and in the area. So people can try out different uh experiences uh for uh foodies lovers. And as for hiking, uh I'm getting a little farther away from Per se, but the Gaspe Peninsula is quite extended. If people want to go while watching, it's possible uh at Fourion National Park, which is only one hour uh and a half approximately uh from Per se one hour, one hour and a half, depending on uh where you want to land. Um, but the park also offers hikes, of course, with the splendid views uh on the Appalachian uh mountains. Uh, and the well-watching can be done uh between May and October. There is a company uh called uh Croisière Baie de Gaspé that offers uh several deportures per day in English and in French. It's also important to uh to precise. Um, and also for people who want to go kayaking, uh, there is a really cool uh excursion that brings you closer to the seals. So either uh early in the morning or at sunset, a really cool activity uh in really nice waters, uh depending on the wind, of course, but normally it's an activity that is uh accessible to uh to everyone. So uh I really recommend it. Um and as for more uh contemplative um activities, of course, the landscapes themselves. Uh you can enjoy uh the sunrise uh on the boardwalk to see uh the sunrise from the Percy Rock, uh, from the Fourier National Park to the Cap Bonami is a really nice place to observe the sunrise with all the clips becoming orange, uh, to see the nature, the seals, the birds. Um, and of course, uh in the autumn, if you want to discover another type of landscapes. Uh, end of September, mid-October is quite uh the most vibrant colors uh in the in the park, so it's really nice uh to discover uh at different points uh of the year. And near Perse, a little gem uh that people normally do not know a little of is uh the Riviere Emerald. Uh it's like um a provincial park, it's like 15 minutes uh north of Percy village, but it's really a near more green pool, uh a natural one that uh people can go to, have a picnic, uh wander around. Uh so it's really uh offering uh different ways uh to explore the area at different paces.
SPEAKER_00That is about as thorough as uh overview of a destination that I've ever heard. I really don't have anything else to ask.
SPEAKER_01So I if you're a bird watcher, if you want to go whale watching, if you go on the website um uh QuebecMaritime.ca, uh you talk about moose. So if you're looking to spot moose, you can do that too. Uh and the observation deck that you mentioned, uh, there's a uh a good uh image of that on your website too. That looks uh just amazing. Yeah, the uh the view from there must be spectacular.
SPEAKER_04It really is, and uh it's it's a shame because uh as of uh I think two years ago they offered the zipline uh so people back in time could go uh to see the Percy Rock from the Zip Line from the GeoPark. So it offered uh a different view uh uh uh from the uh from the village, but uh for now it's not uh accessible anymore. But uh we we truly hope that it will be back on uh one day. And you talked about moose, it makes me thinking that I did not mention the Gaspesi National Park because we covered quite uh the coastline, but of course, there is a national park in uh the middle of the peninsula, and it's really interesting as it uh offers views of 25 uh mountains that are uh more than 1,000 feet high. So it's really uh a great place to go hiking, to spot moose, of course. Uh you can see them either go. Going to the restaurant or the JIT, which is located in the middle of the park. Or if you go camping, also, there is pretty good chances to see them. So it's a clean interesting experience to have.
SPEAKER_01Talk a little bit about the Perse Village itself. You mentioned that you could stay there. What are the accommodations like? And how crowded does it get? I know that BAMP has an issue with overcrowdedness sometimes. And is it open year-round?
SPEAKER_04The Perse Village itself is, of course, open year-round because people still uh live there. But it's for sure that there's not as much uh services as during the summertime. But the season, uh, we are working really hard to extend it so people can really come uh from May to uh mid-October around the holidays, uh end of October sometimes. And in the winter we have also uh snowmobilers uh that come uh to do the tours, so there are services open. Um but in between those periods for now it's not uh always ideal. Uh but May to October is quite uh a good period. April can be nice too because it's the beginning of the snow melting, uh the beginning of fishing also. So uh it's uh it's an interesting time of the year to go. Um as for the accommodation, there are many types. Uh, of course, there are uh many standard hotels, uh as the Reh Hotel uh Per se, uh, which offer restaurant on site with you on the Per se rock. Uh there are uh of course many uh unusual accommodations too. We have uh chalets, um uh self-accommodations are chalet nautica, which is quite uh in um well, uh halfway uh to Per se and Gaspé. Uh but they are all uh riverside, so you can see uh the the the sea uh in front of the chalets. You can have everything you need uh to do the cooking, and you have in a quite equal distance from everything. So for people who stays several days, it could be interesting. Um and also we have in Gaspé, more in the Gaspé village, uh we have uh accommodations more like uh little hotels, B and B's as the the sous les arbres, so under the trees, inn, uh which is really uh a cute accommodation, more like an ancestral house, uh more uh cachet and different uh different um utilities depending on the on the state, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And well, and you did mention too uh the fall, the spectacular fall colors, that would be uh uh fantastic time to go as well.
SPEAKER_04It's well, it's my personal favorite, to be honest. Uh it's really uh a nice time to come because of course the the colors are splendid, but the weather can be still really good too. Uh for example, we went to the Gaspesi National Park with a little group uh at the beginning of October, and we were like having 20 degrees and very nice weather, and very nice colors, clear skies and everything. So yeah. For people who want to wander and discover the landscapes, the the Gaspésie is really uh an interesting place to go.
SPEAKER_01Well, it looks uh amazing. Again, people can go on uh the Quebec Maritime website, QuebecMaritime.ca. Uh click on the uh Gaspay Peninsula region, you can see the views of the Perse Rock, uh the Perse village. It all looks amazing, Melody. So anything else you want to add?
SPEAKER_04No, well, come come see us and uh do not hesitate to share your pictures because we we have many uh many uh travelers uh from Canada coming uh to us, and we love to see all the selfies uh to the region and uh to see how people are loving it. So please come and feel free to ask us any questions you have. It's our job. We are here to inspire you and to guide you. So uh we're ready to welcome you and uh to let you discover our beautiful treasures.
SPEAKER_01Melody Schaefer is a travel trade and press relations officer with Le Quebec Maritime. Quebecmaritime.ca is the website. Uh real pleasure chatting with you, Melody. Thank you so much. Uh merci beaucoup.
SPEAKER_04Thank you so much. Thank you, Randy.
SPEAKER_01And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is Randy at theinformed traveler.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformtraveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.