AncestryDNA have announced on Twitter that they now have an astonishing four million people in their database. They passed the three million milestone in January so this means that they have sold one million DNA tests in the last three months alone. If sales continue at the current rate there could well be seven million or more people in the database by the end of the year.
If you've not yet tested at AncestryDNA now is your chance as they have today announced a flash two-day sale in the UK and Ireland in celebration of DNA Day. There is a 25% discount on UK kits which brings the price down from £79 to just £59. Return postage is extra and is charged at £20. In Ireland the test is reduced from from €95 to €70.
Visit the UK store here: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/dna
Visit the Irish store here: http://ancestry.ie
There are also discounts available on the AncestryDNA test in the US and Canada. There is no discount in Australia but that's probably because 25th April is ANZAC Day and it would be inappropriate to detract from the solemnity of the occasion with a frivolous DNA sale.
If you are a pre-existing AncestryDNA customer the closing date of the sale is given as 2nd May 2017. It is not clear if the closing date of the sale for new customers will be extended as well.
If you test at AncestryDNA and haven't yet tested at Family Tree DNA make sure you take advantage of the free autosomal DNA transfer programme to add your results to FTDNA's Family Finder database. This will give you a different mix of matches and the ability to participate in the various surname and geographical projects. If you pay a small additional fee of US $19 (£15 or €17.50) you will have access to additional tools such as the chromosome browser. Although Family Tree DNA have a smaller autosomal DNA database than AncestryDNA they have been selling their test in the UK since 2010 whereas AncestryDNA only launched in the UK in January 2015. You are therefore likely to find many cousins in the FTDNA database who have not tested at AncestryDNA.
For a comparison of the autosomal DNA testing companies see Tim Janzen's testing comparison chart in the ISOGG Wiki.
Note that if you've tested at AncestryDNA from May 2016 onwards you will get a reduced number of matches when you transfer to Family Tree DNA. This is because AncestryDNA are now using a different chip, and there are fewer markers that are compatible with the chip used by FTDNA. See the blog post from Louise Coakley Should I upgrade my Family Finder transfer for further information.
If you want to take advantage of the full features of both databases then there is much to be said for testing independently at FTDNA. If this is something you want to do make sure you take advantage of FTDNA's DNA Day sale. The Family Finder test is now just £46 ($59).
Update 29 April 2017
AncestryDNA have published a blog post about reaching their four million milestone.
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