Shipping Deadlines And When To Mail That Letter To Santa

The USPS is letting us know when you have to have your gifts wrapped and shipped to make sure it gets there by Christmas…and it’s soon!

Deadlines vary depending on shipping locations and services, but if your kids want to mail a letter to Santa… the deadline is December 10, no matter where in the U.S. they’re mailed.

The USPS says its busiest time of the holiday shipping season starts two weeks before Christmas. It’s expected that customer traffic at all Post Office locations will steadily increase beginning the week of Dec. 6. The week of Dec. 13-18 is anticipated to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week of the season.

USPS recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for delivery by Dec. 25, (to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) and domestic addresses):

  • Dec. 9 — APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
  • Dec. 15 — USPS Retail Ground service
  • Dec. 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
  • Dec. 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
  • Dec. 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
  • Dec. 18 — Priority Mail service
  • Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service

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