Father's day sale at Family Tree DNA with special prices for Family Finder and the Big Y

Family Tree DNA have announced a sale in honour of Father's Day which in many countries of the world, including the UK and the US, is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. For a limited period from 9th June to 17th June the Family Finder test will be reduced from $99 to just $79 (about £47). As far as I can recall, this is the the lowest ever price for this test. Family Finder is an autosomal DNA test which allows you to find matches with your genetic cousins up to about the fourth or fifth cousin level. If you're not familiar with the Family Finder test see my blog post The new Family Finder test from Family Tree DNA which I wrote when the test was first launched in April 2010. For a practical example of how the test works see my post on My first autosomal DNA success story.

Family Tree DNA are my company of choice for autosomal DNA testing. They are the only one of the big three DNA testing companies to sell their tests worldwide and, more importantly for those of us in the UK, they probably have the highest concentration of autosomal DNA test results from the British Isles, thus maximising your chances of finding a meaningful match. AncestryDNA don't even sell their autosomal product outside the US. 23andMe sell their test in 56 countries, including the UK, but they charge a hefty fee to despatch the kits by courier, which effectively doubles the price of the test. The majority of 23andMe customers have tested for health reasons and are less interested in genealogical research, whereas Family Tree DNA is a dedicated genetic genealogy company. For a comparison of the different autosomal tests see Tim Janzen's autosomal DNA testing comparison chart in the ISOGG Wiki. If you've not already taken the Family Finder test now is your big chance to do so. If you've already tested, you might like to encourage your friends and family to test as well. The Family Finder test works best when you have results from multiple family members, and the more people who participate the more success we will have.

The Big Y test is also included in the FTDNA sale. The Big Y test is an advanced test for people who wish to be involved in the Y-SNP discovery process, and is only available for existing FTDNA customers. See my previous blog post The new Big Y test from Family Tree DNA for further information about this test. If you are interested in taking the Big Y test you should consult with the administrators of your haplogroup project. If you're not already in a project you can find a list of Y-DNA haplogroup projects in the ISOGG Wiki. A new SNP matching feature is to be launched for the Big Y test in the next few weeks which should help with the SNP discovery process. For a comparison of the various Y-SNP tests see the Y-DNA SNP testing comparison chart in the Wiki.

Here is the e-mail that was sent out to Family Tree DNA group administrators. (Note that the dates are in US order with the month followed by the day.)

Dear Group Admins, Father's Day is almost here and that means a new Family Tree DNA sale!  Here's what the sale will entail: From 6/9/2014 to 6/17/2014, we will be offering: Family Finder - $79   ($99) Big Y - $595   ($695) Additionally, customers that have already purchased a Big Y test will receive a coupon for $100 off another Big Y! This coupon is valid through 6/17/2015 and can be used on any Big Y order.  The best part is that if you combine it with the Father's Day sale, customers can get Big Y for only $495!  News & updates Big Y matching is coming!  Over the course of the next two weeks we will begin a phased release of Big Y matching so you can directly compare your comprehensive Y-DNA results to those of other Big Y test takers.  The key to identifying all new SNPs and subclades is finally here! Family Finder was recently improved with the release of myOrigins, an all new ethnicity tool allowing you to compare your ethnic breakdown to that of your matches while providing more detailed information on your ethnic heritage than ever before!