As we run about this holiday season, a lot of attention is going to be based on shopping, but don't forget shipping when it comes to presents that have to go through the mail or delivery service.
Most of the major carriers have already posted a guideline of when you need to ship to guarantee delivery for Christmas. We've combined all those dates here so you can have a handy reference sheet when you start thinking about sending your gifts to those special people on your lists.
For the U.S. Post Office: Your first deadline is December 15th. That's the last day to ship anything parcel post. The 19th is the last day for most international shipping, the 20th is the final day for 1st class mail delivery. The 21st is the last day for priority shipping and the 22nd is the final day to ship anything express and expect it to arrive before the 25th.
FedEx:SmartPost needs to be shipped by the 24th, Ground needs to be sent by the 16th, Home Delivery needs to be sent by the 18th. FedEx 2-day and 2-Day A.M. need to go out by the 21st, while the 22nd is the recommended day to ship Standard, Priority, and First Overnight packages.
On the 24th, Next Day service and UPS 2nd Day packakages can be delivered on the 24th.
UPS is recommending at the latest, December 22nd for normal pickup and delivery service for air, international and ground packages. However, air packages picked up on that day will probably be delivered on the 27th, except those processed and labeled for delivery on Saturday, the 24th.
December 23rd , they will still offer normal service with delivery overnight guaranteed, but NextDat Air will be delivered on the 27th, except those marked otherwise.
