Signed, sealed, delivered: Your 2024 holiday mailing and shipping deadlines

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Everyone who has lost sleep scribbling out one more bundle of cards to go out with the morning mail, or who has stood in line at the post office for hours on Dec. 23 with that last stack of packages to send, knows one thing for sure: “Next year, I will start this stuff earlier.”

The United States Postal Service says now is that time.

Hanukkah is Dec. 25 to Jan. 2; Kwanzaa is Dec. 26 to Jan. 1; and of course there’s Christmas and other gift-giving and gathering traditions. To help everyone stay on schedule, USPS has released a list of recommended deadlines for mailing and shipping dates to get holiday mail and packages to their destinations by Dec. 25.

Recommended send-by dates for the contiguous (lower 48) states
📬 USPS Ground Advantage : Dec. 18
📬 First-Class Mail : Dec. 18
📬 Priority Mail : Dec. 19
📬 Priority Mail Express : Dec. 21

Recommended send-by dates for Alaska and Hawaii
📬 USPS Ground Advantage: Dec. 16
📬 First-Class Mail: Dec. 18
📬 Priority Mail: Dec. 19
📬 Priority Mail Express: Dec. 20

Recommended send-by dates for international and military
For mail and packages going to international and military addresses, USPS has another set of recommended shipping dates. For instance, first-class packages going to Africa should go out by Dec. 2. For the Caribbean or the Middle East, you have until Dec. 9.

For military mail, you may need to get that package out the door in November.

All deadlines
Get the full set of deadlines here: usps.com/holidayshippingdates .

Disruptions
Bear in mind, also, severe storms and hurricanes have caused disruptions to mail delivery the world over. Closer to home, in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, some post offices are coming back online after Hurricane Helene. And Hurricane Milton is threatening Florida’s west coast. Check for disruptions on usps.com .