USPS Announces Deadlines for Mailing Christmas Packages

The countdown to Christmas is upon us and it’s time to get those packages in the mail if you want them there in time for Christmas.

The US Postal Service says this year the deadline to mail parcels via retail ground service and First-class mail service is December 17 and the deadline for Priority Mail Service is December 19.

If you’re running late you can still send your packages as late as December 23 via Priority Mail Express but it will cost more, according to Susie Rowland with the Lavonia Post Office.

“The only way to guarantee last-minute packages are under the tree by Christmas is Express Mail. That would guarantee it will be there on Christmas Eve. It’s a little pricey but that’s the only way to make sure it’s there by Christmas,” said Susie Rowland is the Officer in Charge at the Lavonia Post Office.

Those dates apply only if you want to send your packages to addresses in the lower 48 states.  Check with your post office for the deadlines to mail packages to Alaska or Hawaii.

And the deadline to send any packages overseas is between December 6 and December 20, depending on where it’s going and how you want to mail it.

And when mailing packages, Rowland says you need to make sure you have a sturdy box and that the box is well taped with sturdy shipping tape, not scotch tape.

Also, Rowland says if you are sending something fragile, you need to let the postal workers know.

“When you mail it, tell the clerk it’s fragile so we can mark it fragile,” Rowland explained. “Be sure to wrap it in bubble wrap inside the box so if it shifts around it will be kept safe.”

And if you’re planning to send those special Christmas cookies you always make to loved ones and friends or some other perishable food items, Rowland said the post office also needs to know that.

“Just let us know that, too and you want to send it Priority Mail so it gets there in two or three days. And tell the clerk it’s perishable and we will mark the package that way and that will put a little rush on it,” Rowland said.

To send packages to military and diplomatic addresses abroad, the Postal Service offers a discounted price of $20.95 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box.

The price includes a $1.50 discount per box for mail sent to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) destinations worldwide.

The Postal Service is expecting to process more than 10.1 million pounds of mail for military and diplomatic destinations around the world this holiday season.