Every Delivery Deadline You Need to Know If You Want Your Gifts to Arrive on Time
To avoid COVID-related delivery delays, you will want to complete your holiday shopping and mail order early this year. To help you do this, USPS, FedEx, and UPS have posted Recommended Delivery Dates for gifts due in time for Christmas. Here are the dates based on the carrier.
If you ship with USPS
As mentioned in a previous Lifehacker post , USPS recently announced some price hikes for postage and increased the time it takes to send mail. Generally speaking, mail that was previously supposed to be delivered within three days can now take three, four or five days, depending on how far it needs to be delivered. Below are the final mailing dates depending on the type of service and destination.
Continental USA:
- USPS Retail Service: December 15th.
- First-class mail (including greeting cards): December 17th.
- First Class Packages (up to 15.99 oz): Dec 17.
- Priority Mail Service: December 18th.
- Priority Mail Express Service: December 23rd.
USPS in Alaska and Hawaii:
- Alaska Ground Service: December 2.
- Alaska to / from the Continental United States for First Class and Priority Mail: December 18.
- Hawaii to and from the mainland for First Class and Priority Mail: December 17th.
- Alaska and Hawaii to and from mainland, for Priority Mail express delivery: December 21st.
Aviation / Army / Navy / Diplomatic Pouch Addresses:
- Retail service: November 6.
- Priority and First Class Mail: December 9th.
- Priority Mail Express Service in the Army: December 16.
For more information on departure dates for international destinations, refer to this table (located at the bottom of the page).
If you ship via FedEx
- Terrestrial Economy: December 9.
- Ground delivery and home delivery: December 15th.
- Express Saver: December 21.
- 2nd day in the morning: December 22
- Overnight delivery: December 23rd.
- Same day delivery: December 24th.
For more information on departure dates for international destinations, see this table .
If you ship with UPS :
- For ground delivery: get a quote here
- Three-day choice: December 21st.
- The second flight day: December 22.
- Flights the next day: December 23rd.
To inquire about delivery times for international destinations, visit this web page for more information. Please note that the UPS service warranty is still suspended for most services due to COVID.