Do Ancestry know their own prices ???

[Guest]

I emailed them to say I would not be renewing at the new increased price for the Austalian one I took out last year, as I thought the price increase was ridiculous, they have emailed me back to say I can take out the UK Worldwide one for £107.40 which I thought was brilliant , but when I went to the site the price is £155.40 ??? the price she quoted is for the Premium one.
Needless to say I have emailed them back ,wonder what response I get this time ??

[JBee]

I'm just finishing with ancestry oz and have bought FTM with 6 months World Wide essentials.

Now I'm a bit confused as to what that means now - I know there's Essentials, Premium and Worldwide but what is included with Worldwide Essentials? or should I say what don't you get?

In the last couple of weeks have found that Ancestry doesn't have certain of my rellies in the 1901 census - yet FMP does - can I complain????

[Guest]

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/subscribe/signup.aspx#compare

this tells you the three packages and you can click on and compare which does what, I have ordered the FTM 2010 disc too but was wondering if Ancestry would do a deal.

[MarionH]

I emailed them to say I would not be renewing at the new increased price for the Austalian one I took out last year, as I thought the price increase was ridiculous, they have emailed me back to say I can take out the UK Worldwide one for £107.40 which I thought was brilliant , but when I went to the site the price is £155.40 ??? the price she quoted is for the Premium one.
Needless to say I have emailed them back ,wonder what response I get this time ??

Ditto Val - but I phoned them - and they didn't offer a discount (I paid $149.50 last year and this year it is $449!!!!!! The girl/lady mentioned quietly about the UK site but didn't quote a price at all - so I went to the site and 155.40 was the price. I'm still considering at this stage - it's getting to be rather expensive from this side of the pond at times!!

(Eek - this type IS small isn't it!!!!!)

[Guest]

I think its disgusting and its obvious they dont like us using the Ozzie site they should have made it clear that the offer was only for Australian residents .
You can change the writing size ,If I remember rightly go down to the bottom and change your settings to larger FTF Fonts

[Elaine ..Spain]

Marion, if your problem is just the size of text in the reply box, then go to Settings at the top right of page, in the left hand column select Forum Settings and then under the Miscellaneous Options heading select Enhanced Interface.

If the problem is a small font on the forum as a whole then do as Val suggests, bottom left of page select FTF Larger Fonts as your skin.

[jenoco]

I've cancelled my Aussie Ancestry subscription and like JB taken out the six months FMP one. So far so good, as I've found quite a bit of new information which wasn't on Ancestry (oversea BMDs, etc.).

[JBee]

I jumped at the chance as I need to cover the US and Canada as well as Australia/NZ but was confused as I thought Worldwide covered everything yet Essentials is the basic one.

[rbere]

Hope you don't mind me asking ;but i purchased the FTM platinum which comes with the 6 month essentials, can someone explain the difference between this and others, what extra do you get from the £155 annual subscription?

regards

NB. you can increase the type size by holding down the Ctrl and then use the scroll button to increase or decrease + and - works too;)

[Guest]

if you click on the link I gave on post 3 it gives you the three options and you can click on to compare them

[rbere]

Thanks for that does seem a lot of money £155, I think i'll make that decision after my free trial, doesn't
seem that you get a great deal more than the essentials.

Regards

[SueNSW]

Especially when taking out an annual sub the exchange rate situation comes strongly into play if you are buying from the site based in another country - and I think Ancestry's "problem" is they can't keep playing around with costs to reflect variation in exchange rates. When your home country currency is strong - it is usually cheaper to buy from overseas - but when your home country currency is weak - it is generally better to buy from home

It was reported at the weekend that the Australian dollar is at it's highest rate against the poor old Pound in 25 years - and it is close to record highs against the US dollar

Today - using the "official" rate on xe.com - which will always be a little better than your bank will charge - the "top" annual packages from UK, US and Australia work out markedly differently if you were buying in Australia
US - USD 299.40 - = AUD322
UK - GBP 155.40 - = AUD268
AUS = AUD 449.95

In the UK - (forgetting special offers and not looking at any other countries at the moment- for simplicity) you are much better off at current exchange rate levels buying your sub from UK Ancestry

US - USD 299.40 = GBP187
UK - GBP 155.40
AUS - AUD449.95 = GBP260

When I first started buying UK certificates 18 months/2 years ago - I was paying around AUD20 - 21 for the GBP7.00 cert - today it is closer to AUD12 - 13. These things come around and go around in cycles - maybe folks need to consider these other things at play - it's bad enough with Ancestry changing prices and packages in different markets every so often - think how much complaining there would be if they changed prices daily to reflect international exchange rates

Here endeth the lesson - I know they're not perfect - but I'm still very grateful to them for allowing me to do all I can do - sitting at home - and by the way I have a monthly Aussie sub at the moment - I find it easier to justify the lower cost each month - even though I pay more over the year - and yes it would probably save me a dollar or two each month to change to the UK monthly equivalent at the moment- but I've decided for 2010 at least - life's too short to stress over a dollar or two a month - and I rejoice whenever I need a cert!!

Cheers
Sue

[rbere]

Thanks for the info Sue, I only paid £30 for the FTM software with 6 months essential so i guess i got a good deal, but then i guess that's the carrot. Just one more thing do other ancestry sites offer better value than FTM? or are they all much of a much?

Regards

[SueNSW]

First you have to decide (by comparing packages online is easiest) which Ancestry package level you want/need/can afford - bearing in mind what is generally available at public libraries is worldwide (with a few limitations). Here in my part of Australia I haven't found a library offering FMP - but that might be different elsewhere

Whether Ancestry is better value than FMP is a sixty four thousand dollar question - everyone has a different opinion depending on research areas/countries covered/what they are "used" to etc etc

I like them and use them both just about equally - and also really dislike things about both of them - FMP are now offering a 14 day trial as Ancestry has for yonks - to have a look (except it doesn't cover 1911 census) it's probably best to check it out and form your own opinion

Cheers
Sue

[clematised]

Sue, that now makes sense and it is a lot clearer as I too have Ancestry AU sub from last years link here, but I think I will just let my sub to AU end and wait for an offer to come up later in the year somewhere, as I know I can ask if I need a look and I am not using it for my own research regularly, but to help others.

Thanks

Edna

[Kit]

Ancestry canada had a half price deal. It was suposed to end jan 3 or 4 but have a look an see. worldwide package for less than 100 pounds, cheaper than an basic auusie sub.

[SueNSW]

HAD is the word - it's now Canadian $299.40 = AUD313 or GBP181 (at current rates on xe.com)

[Kit]

ok. Was hoping it had been extended. Sorry folks.

[MarionH]

Marion, if your problem is just the size of text in the reply box, then go to Settings at the top right of page, in the left hand column select Forum Settings and then under the Miscellaneous Options heading select Enhanced Interface.

If the problem is a small font on the forum as a whole then do as Val suggests, bottom left of page select FTF Larger Fonts as your skin.

Thanks for that Elaine and Val - I haven't answered a thread since the new look so it took me by surprise - have now changed over via the settings!!

[Durham Lady]

I had the Aus worldwide sub last year at the reduced price. Canncelled when I got the price for this year and went to Ancestry CA Canada and got a worldwide sub for CDN $177.83 and the exchange rate should be somewhere between £104 to £110 I think. Waiting to see what the bank statement says.