Unless you plan on waiting until Black Friday, which I’m going to do, there are two special offers available for DNA kits in honor of Father’s Day:
1. Ancestry DNA is $79.00, however, if you order it via Amazon.com and are a prime member, you don’t have to pay shipping. Sale ends June 18th.
2. MyHeritage DNA is $69.00 – ends June 19th.
I took a wonderful webinar through the Association of Professional Genealogists on Thursday evening on DNA and Ancestry given by Jennifer Anderson Zinck. Although my husband and I tested through Ancestry before their new tests became available in October 2014, our earlier results are still available through the DNA tab on the ribbon. I had thought Ancestry was no longer supporting their older tests so I was pleasantly surprised.
Understandably, the old results aren’t going to be a part of their new communities and circles. I decided to upload that old data into MyHeritage.com’s new DNA feature as they recently began accepting data from other companies.
To upload, click on the MyHeritage DNA tab’s dropdown “Upload DNA data NEW.” Click the pink box “Start.” Click if you are uploading your data or someone else’s. In my case, I was trying to upload my mtDNA. Then, click the Service Terms and Consent Agreement. Next, click the pink box “Upload.” Ancestry downloads the results as a csv file which my computer didn’t like. I converted it to an Excel file as that is what it is and uploaded it.
The pop up told me “DNA uploaded successfully.” Good thing I decided to click “Manage Kits” before I uploaded hubby’s data. Surprise, surprise – my kit was marked “Invalid.” I thought that might be because I had changed formats so I went back through the steps and uploaded the csv file. Again, I got the “DNA uploaded successfully” but in checking further, it was marked as “Invalid.”
I called MyHeritage at 1-877-432-3135. Don’t get confused by the voice mail options! I wasn’t needing billing or accounting (1) or sales (2) and the third option, tech support, says to call back between 7 am -5 pm. Since it was 9:15 AM I thought the phones might be down. The message repeats twice but just hold on because you’ll eventually be placed in the queue for assistance. I was number 9 and the wait time was about 15 minutes.
I told the tech guy the process I had followed and it turns out that MyHeritage does not accept mtDNA or yDNA, only autosomal, which we hadn’t taken. I suggested that the type of test be written on the site to save phone calls and wasted time though autosomal is the way to go now and there probably aren’t a lot of folks like us who have older tests.
So, if you have an autosomal DNA test done at a competitor’s site, you might want to take advantage of MyHeritage’s free offer. Getting your data out to another site just might unlock secrets you never knew existed.
Had a wonderful time in Raleigh last week at the National Genealogical Society Conference! I focused on DNA workshops as that is an area where I would like to gain more knowledge and practical experience.
My 3 favorite sessions on this topic were by Debbie Parker Wayne, Blaine Bettinger and Judy Russell. Now that I have a rudimentary understanding, I plan on working through the book, Genetic Genealogy in Practice by Bettinger and Wayne this summer.
I also learned that the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG) had been reactivated as a free peer reviewed online resource. Check it out!
Two of the major DNA players, MyHeritage and Ancestry.com, offered conference specials but I decided to wait until Black Friday to make purchases. My plan is to purchase kits from either or several organizations but more likely from Ancestry first since it has the larger database. Then, I’ll download the results and upload to Family Tree DNA and Gedmatch.
Hubby and I tested years ago through Ancestry – he did X and Y and I did X but that version is no longer supported. I’d like to do add Autosomal this time around and include other family members. Besides the benefit of identifying new family members and confirming ones we are aware of, I think it would be fascinating to see if any mutations occurred between our kids and us and between my husband and his sister.
For Mother’s Day, my family got me an e-Book, Mansions of the Dead, by Sarah Stewart Taylor. It’s a genealogical murder mystery that I find interesting as it takes place in Boston, a city I’ve happily researched in, and revolves around mourning jewelry, which I’ve been fascinated with since working with a Client several years ago that inherited a mystery piece from a paternal grandmother. The book was written when DNA analysis was relatively new and I question some of the info but it is a fun read and I can’t wait to confirm my hypothesis of who done it. Happy Hunting!
On April 25, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick’s article, “The Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” was published in Nature.1 Thus began the DNA revolution.
In honor of that anniversary, Thomas MacEntee has deemed April 25th as DNA Day and other organizations have come forward to offer sales and specials that may be of interest to you (Think of this as a genealogist’s own President’s Day sale!)
Ancestry.com’s price is $79.00. The offer ends April 26th. AncestryCanada price is 30% off ; AncestryUK is 25% off
MyHeritage is also offering kits for $79.00 but will bundle a kit with a subscription for even greater savings.
23 and Me is offering free shipping on their $99.00 autosomal kit with 10% off an additional kit
FamilyTreeDNA is offering Family Finder kits for $59.00
The last time these prices were this low was during the 2016 Holiday shopping season.
1 Watson, James D., and Francis Crick. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” Nature 171, 4356 (25 April 1953): 737-738.
Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 2 June 2016.
Last blog we looked at ways to cut costs on genealogical memberships. We’ll keep a running tab of expenses; for full membership in genealogical organizations the cost would be about $409.00 annually and on a limited budget, less than $100.00. Today we’re going to explore how to cut costs for those must have online databases.
AmericanAncestors.org is a database offering “hundreds of millions of valuable records.” For home access, the cost is $89.95 annually but it is free through many public libraries. Check out the link I’ve provided – it’s to the 453 databases in the collection. I have found this site very useful for my New England and Long Island ancestors but if you aren’t researching those areas or are on a tight budget, save by using it at the library.
Ancestry.com is most likely available at your local library, too, but I must caution you that not all records are available on the library edition. It is also only available for use in the library so you are limiting the time you can spend searching. That’s okay if you’re on a tight budget as there are other sites you can use while you’re at home. If you are a member of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) you can get a one time discount of 30% off an annual Ancestry membership. You must have your AARP card number when you call Ancestry Customer Service and it will extend a current membership so wait until a day or two before your expiration before you renew to take full advantage of the offer. Call Member Services at 1-800-ANCESTRY. Cost depends on what membership you’re purchasing (U.S., World., or All). There’s always the 14 day free trial but if you do that, make sure you’re saving what you find on your computer so you can access it when the trial ends.
Billion Graves is FREE so check it out. Personally, I’ve never found anything different than what is available
elsewhere but I still look and so should you.
Familysearch.org is FREE and if you haven’t created a login you need to. The caveat here is if you are building
your tree on this site ANYONE can change what you’ve entered. Wikis are wonderful and in a perfect world this would not be an issue. I have had well meaning but not knowledgeable folks change data and make links that are not right. I know of the changes because they nicely email you when someone has done something to what you’ve entered. I don’t have the time to keep undoing what someone else does so my skeletal tree is going to remain that. That’s not to say that the rest of the website is a wonderful FREE source for you to use at home.
Find-a-Grave.com is affiliated with Ancestry.com but remains FREE. Not all information on the site is accurate so be careful, just as you would if you were researching anywhere else!
FindMyPast is awesome if you’re researching Great Britain. They boast 8 million records and I have found some info but not enough with the lines I am currently researching to make it worthwhile if money was an issue. They do have a blog and send lots of emails a week with updated news. Like every other competitor, they want you to save your tree to their site. This increases the number of records they can claim they have while you do all the work. The benefits, though, are that you can connect with others who are interested in the same lines and you can access the information anywhere you have connectivity. Fourteen day FREE trial available.
Fold3 -now part of Ancestry.com, has a basic membership for free. That allows you to search and browse but not access all images. Kind of like letting you look in the bakery window but not enter to taste! Specials are offered frequently, such as join for 7 days for free or $49.95 for a premium yearly access. Fold3 is mostly thought about in regards to military records but they are building on other areas, such as Project Blue Book (I believe this is the first genealogy website to include nonearthling alien information!) to African and Native American collections.
GenealogyBank – I call it the newspaper place. Check out where they have records before you buy; with over 100 million records you most likely will find something valuable here, especially obits. Free 30 day FREE trial that’s well worth it so give it a try.
MyHeritage is a not only a place to save your tree online but you can scroll all the way to the bottom of their longggggg page, click search, and use their database. They have a Nordic Census that I’ve found helpful. It’s FREE.
Today’s costs – if you are using a library for Ancestry and you’ve taken advantage of the free trials – $0.00. Our running total for the budget concern – still less than $100.00/year. Next time we’ll look at free additional resources available.
