Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2017: Make Sure Gifts Arrive On Time

WOODINVILLE, WA - To make sure your cards and packages arrive on the doorstep of family and friends ahead of Thanksgiving, and Christmas, it's not too soon to get your items to the post office. In fact, the recommended date for retail ground delivery to military personnel is this week. So start thinking about your gift list and specifically how you plan to get your holiday gifts from here to there. The U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx have all released their recommended shipping dates for the 2017 holiday season, as well as some helpful tips to make the holidays a little less hectic.

For holiday procrastinators, the very last day to mail a first class greeting card is Dec. 19. For serious procrastinators, you can hold off another day by using Priority Mail and three more days if you choose Priority Express. Of course they are costlier options.

The Postal Service expects to deliver more than 15 billion pieces of mail this holiday season and 850 million packages between Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 23) and New Year's Day. That's up 10 percent from last year so think early if you want your packages and cards to arrive on time.

Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days
With an increase in early and online shopping for gifts, there is no longer a "busiest day" for holiday shipping. Instead, the Postal Service's busiest time is now two weeks before Christmas. Starting the week of Dec. 11, customer traffic is expected to increase, with the week of Dec. 18 - 24 predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping, and delivery week. During this week, nearly 3 billion pieces of First Class Mail, including greeting cards, will be processed and delivered. The Postal Service also expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week during these two weeks.

Skip the Trip and Ship Online
While there may not be a busiest day for shipping this year, the Postal Service anticipates that Dec. 18 will be the Postal Service's busiest day online with more than 7 million customers predicted to visit usps.com for help shipping that special holiday gift. Millions of customers will skip the trip to the Post Office altogether and use online shipping this holiday season. Click-N-Ship and other online services allow customers to order free Priority Mail boxes, print shipping labels, purchase postage and even request free next-day Package Pickup from the mail carrier. And usps.com is always open.

Here are the 2017 holiday season recommended Postal Service mailing and shipping deadlines:

• Nov. 6 APO/FPO/DPO USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 11 APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail & First Class Mail
• Dec. 14 USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 15 Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail & amp; First-Class Mail
• Dec. 16 APO/FPO/DPO USPS Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 16 First Class Packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 19 First Class Mail (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20 Priority Mail
• Dec. 20 Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 20 Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail & First-Class Mail
• Dec. 21 Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 22 Priority Mail Express

FedEx
Here are your last days to ship with FedExExpress, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery so your shipments arrive on or before Monday, Dec. 25:
Because Christmas Eve falls on Sunday this year, the company has made some changes the week of Christmas:

• FedEx Express and FedEx Ground will not be delivering on Sunday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) or Monday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day).
• FedEx Office locations will close by 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve).

Last Days to Ship:

• These FedEx Express services will deliver on Saturday, Dec. 23: FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, and FedEx 2Day. A $16 Saturday delivery fee will apply per package.
• FedEx Ground will not deliver on Saturday, Dec. 23. Check out the FedEx Ground Service Maps to determine the day-definite transit time of FedEx Ground shipments.
• With FedEx SameDay service and some expedited services, you can ship on Christmas Day. FedEx SameDay is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for most urgent shipments.
• You can find the delivery time and FedEx delivery choices for your U.S. and international shipments by using the Get Rates & Transit Times application at fedex.com.

UPS
Here are the UPS deadlines to ship to make sure your packages arrive by Thanksgiving and Christmas:
Thanksgiving Delivery
Tuesday, Nov. 21: Normal pickup and delivery service. All UPS 2nd Day Air packages picked up today will be delivered on Friday, Nov. 24.
Wednesday, Nov. 22: Normal pickup and delivery service. All UPS Next Day Air packages picked up today will be delivered on Friday, Nov. 24. UPS 2nd Day Air packages picked up today will be delivered on Monday, Nov. 27 (except those processed and labeled for delivery on Saturday, Nov. 25).
Thursday, Nov. 23, Thanksgiving Day (UPS Holiday) No UPS pickup or delivery service. UPS Express Critical service available.
Friday, Nov. 24: Normal pickup and delivery service in all areas.
Saturday, Nov. 25: Delivery of UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air packages processed and labeled for Saturday Delivery.

• Pickup service available for UPS Air and international Air packages for regular Saturday pickup customers. UPS On-Call Pickup service is available to all customers for UPS Air and international Air packages. Pickup and delivery of UPS Ground on Saturday packages will be available in many metro area ZIP codes.

Christmas Delivery
Monday, Dec. 18: Normal pickup and delivery service. This is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select service for delivery before Christmas Day with delivery on Friday, Dec. 22.
Tuesday, Dec. 19: Normal pickup and delivery service. UPS 3 Day Select shipments picked up today will be scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, Dec. 26.
Wednesday, Dec. 20: Normal pickup and delivery service. This is the last day to ship UPS 2nd Day Air packages for delivery before Christmas Day (delivery on Friday, Dec. 22).
Thursday, Dec. 21: Normal pickup and delivery service. UPS 2nd Day Air service is available for delivery before Christmas Day (delivery on Saturday, Dec. 23). Packages must be processed and labeled for Saturday Delivery, which is not available to all ZIP codes. All UPS Next Day Air packages picked up today will be delivered on Friday, Dec. 22.
Friday, Dec. 22: Normal pickup and delivery service. This is the last day to ship UPS Next Day Air packages to be delivered before Christmas Day (delivery on Saturday, Dec. 23). Packages must be processed and labeled for Saturday Delivery, which is not available to all ZIP codes.
Saturday, Dec. 23: Delivery of UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air packages processed and labeled for Saturday Delivery. Pickup and delivery of UPS Ground on Saturday packages will be available in many metro area ZIP codes.
Sunday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve: No UPS pickup or delivery service. UPS Express Critical service available.
Monday, Dec. 25, Christmas (UPS Holiday): No UPS pickup or delivery service. UPS Express Critical service available.
Tuesday, Dec. 26: Normal pickup and delivery service resumes. UPS 3 Day Select packages picked up today will be delivered on Friday, Dec. 29.

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