The holiday season is in full swing and the post office, UPS and FedEx have set the deadlines to make sure your cards and packages to their destinations in time for the celebrations.
USPS
The USPS said that Dec. 17 was the key date for Ground Advantage and First-Class mail going to the contiguous U.S.
If you’re sending mail to Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. territories, then Dec. 16 was the day for Ground Advantage, while the 17th was still the day for First-Class mail.
After Dec. 17 then you will have to choose a different service and possibly pay more.
Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express have a bit bigger sending window. Dec. 18 and 20, respectively.
If you’re sending internationally, the dates were much earlier, as early as Dec. 2.
Military mail deadline was Nov. 4 for Ground Advantage and Dec. 9 for First-Class Mail service.
While these are the deadlines, the USPS reminds, “The earlier you send, the better: Don’t delay, mail and ship today!”
For more from USPS, click here.
UPS
UPS also set its deadlines to ensure that your packages get to their recipients in time.
For UPS Ground, the company said you should use the “Calculate Time and Cost” website to find out when you should send.
But it does have set dates for three-, two-, and next-day delivery.
U.S. Domestic:
- 3 Day Select - Dec. 19
- 2nd Day Select - Dec. 22
- Next Day Air - Dec 23
U.S. to Canada
- Standard - check time and cost
- Worldwide Expedited - Dec. 22
- Worldwide Express - Dec. 23
U.S. to Mexico
- Standard - check time and cost
- Worldwide Expedited - Dec. 19
- Worldwide Express - Dec. 22
For more from UPS, click here.
FedEx
FedEx also set deadlines to ensure Christmas delivery.
For ground economy service, you needed to send your item by Dec. 15.
Here are the rest of the suggested send dates for package delivery:
Packages:
- FedEx Home Delivery - Dec. 17 for 5-day, 18 for 4-day, 19 for 3-day, 23 for 2-day, 24 for 1-day
- FedEx Ground - Dec. 17 for 5-day, 18 for 4-day, 19 for 3-day, 23 for 2-day, 24 for 1-day
- FedEx Express Saver - Dec. 20
- FedEx 2Day and 2Day AM - Dec. 22
- FedEx First Overnight, Priority Overnight, Standard Overnight, Extra Hours - Dec. 23
- FedEx SameDay - Dec. 24
Air Freight:
- 3Day - Dec. 18
- 2Day - Dec. 19
- 1Day - Dec. 23
LTL Freight:
- Freight Economy - Dec. 11
- Freight Priority - Dec. 16 for 5-day, 17 for 4-day, 18 for 3-day, 19 for 2-day, 22 for 1-day
For more information from FedEx, including dates to send to Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico, click here.
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