Mailing packages? Here's what to know about holiday shipping deadlines

Kye Graves, Arizona Republic
Updated ·3 min read

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, here are the deadlines shoppers should be aware of when shipping out their gifts.

For this year, the holiday season will kick off with Hanukkah, which is set to run from sundown on Thursday, Dec. 7, to sundown on Friday, Dec. 15. Christmas will follow on Dec. 25, and Kwanzaa will take place from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, closing out the year's festivities.

Those aiming to efficiently plan their holiday shopping and shipping can look no further, as the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx have all released their respective deadline dates ahead of the busiest time of the year.

USPS shipping deadline dates

For items to arrive by Dec. 25 for the lower 48 states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii):

  • USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16

  • First-Class Mail (including greeting cards): Dec. 16

  • Priority Mail: Dec. 18

  • Priority Mail Express: Dec. 20

For items to arrive by Dec. 25 for Alaska:

  • USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16

  • First-Class Mail: Dec. 16

  • Priority Mail: Dec. 18

  • Priority Mail Express: Dec. 20

For items to arrive by Dec. 25 for Hawaii:

  • USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16

  • First-Class Mail: Dec. 16

  • Priority Mail: Dec. 16

  • Priority Mail Express: Dec. 20

For items to arrive by Dec. 25 for Air/Army Post Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), Diplomatic Post Office (DPO):

  • USPS Ground Advantage: Nov. 6

  • First-Class Mail: Dec. 9

  • Priority Mail: Dec. 9

  • Priority Mail Express Military Service: Dec. 15 (option not available for APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 093)

UPS shipping deadline dates

UPS recommends the following last days to ship items to arrive by Dec. 23 within the United States:

  • UPS Ground shipping: Check UPS website at ups.com/ctc

  • UPS 3 Day Select: Dec. 19

  • UPS 2nd Day Air services: Dec. 20 (Dec. 21 with Saturday delivery options)

  • UPS Next Day Air services: Dec. 21 (Dec. 22 with Saturday delivery options)

For items to arrive by Dec. 23 from U.S. to Canada:

  • UPS Standard services: Check UPS website at ups.com/ctc

  • UPS Worldwide Expedited: Dec. 19

  • UPS Worldwide Express services: Dec. 20

For items to arrive by Dec. 23 from U.S. to Mexico:

  • UPS Standard services: Check UPS website at ups.com/ctc

  • UPS Worldwide Expedited: Dec. 19

  • UPS Worldwide Express services: Dec. 20

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FedEx shipping deadline dates

FedEx recommends these dates for items to arrive on or before Sunday, Dec. 24, within the United States:

  • FedEx Freight Economy: Dec. 12

  • FedEx Ground Economy: Dec. 13

  • FedEx Express 3Day Freight and FedEx Express Saver: Dec. 19

  • FedEx Express 2Day Freight: Dec. 20

  • FedEx Express 1Day Freight: Dec. 21

  • FedEx SameDay: Dec. 22

For FedEx Ground, Home Delivery and Freight Priority options, those choosing the five-day shipping option will want to have items sent by Dec. 15, four-day by Dec. 18, three-day by Dec. 19 and so on.

For items to arrive by Dec. 24 from the U.S. to Canada:

  • FedEx International Connect Plus: Dec. 18

  • FedEx International Economy: Dec. 19

  • FedEx International Priority and Priority Distribution: Dec. 20

  • FedEx International First: Dec. 21

  • FedEx International Next Flight: Dec. 22

For FedEx Ground from the U.S. to Canada, those opting for seven-day shipping will want to have items shipped by Dec. 13, six-day by Dec. 14, five-day by Dec. 15, four-day by Dec. 18 and so on.

For items to arrive by Dec. 24 from the U.S. to Mexico:

  • FedEx International Connect Plus and International Economy: Dec. 20

  • FedEx International First and International Priority: Dec. 21

  • FedEx International Next Flight: Dec. 22

For items to arrive by Dec. 24 from the U.S. to Puerto Rico:

FedEx International Economy: Dec. 19

FedEx International Priority and Priority Distribution: Dec. 20

FedEx International First: Dec. 21

FedEx International Next Flight: Dec. 22

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 2023 Christmas shipping deadlines: When to mail items for holidays