The trees are turning brilliant colors of orange, yellow, and red which means the holidays are right around the corner. That means it’s time to think about getting those holiday packages shipped out to arrive before Old Saint Nick does. We have a shorter holiday season with Thanksgiving being late this year, planning will ensure your holiday cards, letters, and packages will arrive on time.

To take advantage of the best shipping to Milfamily and friends overseas you should be sending out your packages before November 6^th using USPS Retail Ground Service. If you need some more time to pick out the perfect present, your cutoff date using Priority Mail is December 9^{th –} 11^th for cards and letters, and December 4^th for packages. If you would rather wait until the last minute you have until December 18^th to mail using Priority Mail Express Military Service (PMEMS). These dates are for all Army Post Offices (APO), Fleet Post Offices (FPO) and Diplomatic Post Offices (DPO).

Many of us will be shipping to domestic addresses within the lower 48 states, so we have a little more time to prepare for the holidays. First class letters and cards should be to the post office by December 20^th to arrive before the 25^th. Priority mail needs to be dropped into the mail stream by December 21^st for delivery by the 25^th and Priority Mail Express needs to mailed by December 23^rd.

Those who will be shipping from Alaska and Hawaii have a different set of cut-off dates based on where the destination is located.

Business mailings shipping larger quantities of packages at a discounted rate of postage has the following cut off dates:

Those who will be mailing to international addresses the dates range from November 30^th to December 19^th depending on location and level of service you would like to use. Africa and Central & South America have the earliest ship dates, with Europe, Canada, and the Middle East having later ship dates.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy 2020!