Ancestry Subscription

[DavidP]

In these times of impending self-isolation etc, I am considering taking out a subscription to Ancestry: I used to subscribe to them, but found that Find My Past had a better coverage of Parish Registers for my areas of interest. Now that I have just about exhausted the offerings at FMP I thought I might see what Ancestry has to offer. (Our local library in New Zealand has access to Ancestry, but I suspect that is going to be closed in the next week or two.)

Comparing 6 monthly subscription rates for the four main English language sites, I find the following prices for worldwide access:

Canada $CA 130 = $NZ 167
Australia $AUS 170 = $NZ 183 "special offer"
Australia $AUS 250 = $NZ 269 normal
UK GBP 100 = $NZ 213
USA $US 199 = $NZ 265 "special offer"
USA $US 299 = $NZ 549 normal

I'm surprised at the divergence of pricing, particularly the 'normal' Australia and US sites. It looks like Canada gives the best value and I can then go out and buy some more toilet rolls! Would you believe it, but milk was in short supply at our local supermarket last Thursday!

 

[canadianbeth]

I paid $131.94 Canadian for my six-month renewal last week.

Our library closed last Monday; the day before I was going to go in and pick up three books that were on hold for me.

 

[Tim]

Just seen this on Facebook:
Auckland Research Centres

Fab news for Auckland Libraries' members!
Ancestry is now temporarily available free from home through the Auckland Libraries' website!
Trace your family lineage from the comfort of your own home completely free with your library membership.
Log in to “My Info”, and use the usual link to Ancestry from within the Auckland Libraries' website.
And if you aren't a member, and would like Ancestry access, you can sign up for a free eMembership with Auckland Libraries.
This gives you access not just to Ancestry - but also ebooks, databases, enewspapers, Beamafilm . . . .
JOIN HERE:
https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/join-the-library.aspx#Start

 

[peter]

David, I think you'll find that US$199 works out at around NZ$344, not $265 as shown above.

$199 isn't a special price, it's the normal price of a 6 month All Access membership, which includes Fold3. A World Explorer membership is only $149 for 6 months, about NZ$257.

When subscribing to Ancestry you may be charged local taxes (ie local to you) on top of the quoted price. But you'll see what the cost is on the screen where you pay.

You can support LostCousins using the appropriate link below:

Ancestry.ca

Ancestry.com.au

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.co.uk

 

[DavidP]

I stand corrected, Peter. I must have used the incorrect currency in my calculator. Rechecking the Ancestry web-site the $US199 was actually a saving over their "all Access' monthly sub.

Nevertheless, I think I will go with the Canadian website sub. I'm just going to do a bit of home maintenance over the next couple of days and then settle down to more family history during our lockdown.

Tim: When I last looked at our local library's Ancestry offering, it was a bit limited as to what you could access, but I agree that it is a very good offering from Auckland library. Hopefully not too many people from elsewhere try to use it!

 

[peter]

You can support LostCousins using the appropriate link below

Thanks, David!

 

[At home in NZ]

JOIN HERE:

YOU CAN ONLY JOIN IF YOU LIVE/OWN PROPERTY IN AUCKLAND.
I don't live in Auckland now, I have a current sub to Ancestry but thought I'd take a look to confirm my thoughts about where you live.

 

[Bryman]

YOU CAN ONLY JOIN IF YOU LIVE/OWN PROPERTY IN AUCKLAND.

That seems to be pretty standard. Local library facilities are intended for local residents (rate payers) only. I access Ancestry via my local Selwyn District library and find that I have remote access to most search facilities.

 

[At home in NZ]

I access Ancestry via my local Selwyn District library and find that I have remote access to most search facilities.

I decided to take another look into this, hoping to avoid paying the sub. I'm in the Western Bay of Plenty District and they have the Ancestry Library Edition BUT you can only access it from within a library.
That's no good to me while we are in lockdown, in any case I much prefer to sit at my own computer while researching.

 

[Bryman]

I'm in the Western Bay of Plenty District and they have the Ancestry Library Edition BUT you can only access it from within a library.

The Ancestry Library Edition is what I access remotely from my home so it might be worth asking your local library if they would be willing to make remote access available to you. It cannot be difficult to do but it might be well down their list of priorities in the current circumstances. When I first enquired here in Selwyn, I was immediately offered the remote access as an existing facility, as a parallel option for looking at ebooks and magazines, rather than having to use one of about 3 or 4 physical computers at the library.

The mandatory charge of nearly 200 NZD per household in the local rates for the provision of the library enables a considerable saving to be achieved by avoidance of the cost of an extra subscription. The Library Edition is not as good as a private subscription but is nearly so and I do not consider the extra cost of a separate subscription to be worthwhile just to overcome the slight inconvenience. Initially, I was getting automatically logged off after about an hour of inactivity (much longer than allowed by the banks!) but now that interval seems to have been extended to many hours. That may be indicative of less people wishing to use the remote access or perhaps they have arranged for more people to access at the same time.

 

[At home in NZ]

it might be worth asking your local library if they would be willing to make remote access available to you

The notice on their website says all their libraries are closed until further notice, due to the lockdown.

Our rates have the reputation of being the most expensive in the country, but when it comes to the library charge it is $72.22 plus GST for 6 months it's cheap compared to yours.

Do you know what the difference between the library edition and the private subscription edition is?

 

[Bryman]

Our libraries are also closed but there may be someONE at a library or their home that is available for simple maintenance/restart if things suddenly fall over. I tried to find out in advance of the lockdown but could not get a definite answer. Fingers crossed.

When I first obtained access a few years ago, the library cost via the rates was 160 NZD, incl GST, for the whole year. That then increased to 180 so is now approaching 200 NZD if not actually going over in the coming year. There is a lot of replacement building work anticipated in the Long Term Plan due to a population explosion since the quakes so my hopes for stable rates is disappearing fast. I think that they have increased about 50% over the last half dozen years.

I don't know exactly what the difference is between a private subscription and the library edition but I have not found anything very significant for me. Access to BMD and census information is included as are public member trees and message boards. One inconvenience is an inability to immediately view the extended trees of DNA matched subscribers beyond the 5 generations listed. I have to switch to the library edition and find the appropriate public tree, if available.

 

[Luke]

In South Australia, and I believe interstate, so this might possibly be rolled out for local libraries worldwide due to COVID-19 leading to libraries being closed, Ancestry Library Edition can now be accessed from home by logging into your local library with your library card details.

Here is a link to a Facebook post from Libraries South Australia (don't need a FB account to access the post) for more information:

https://www.facebook.com/LibrariesSA/posts/2895525713834100

 

[peter]

See also the Stop Press in my latest newsletter.