It is the most wonderful and busiest time of year…ask anyone who delivers for Amazon.  While many people are out there doing their best to get our packages delivered on time, the key to not having a very expensive shipping bill is to get your packages out before the holiday shipping deadlines. While this sounds easy, I know that during this busy time of year time can easily escape all of us. When you have packages to send out, set a reminder on your phone to make sure that everyone gets their gifts on time or else you will be like me staring at the box on the counter that I was suppose to mail out several days ago. 

Here are the holiday shipping deadlines for major carriers in 2024.

USPS Ground Advantage and for First-Class Mail

If you are sending something through USPS Ground Advantage service or First Class Mail, then the holiday shipping deadlines in 2024 is December 18th.  For Priority Mail, customers have until December 19th to get the package in the mail. If you don’t make it to the post office in time, then the deadline for Priority Mail Express is December 21st. 

If you need to send something to Alaska or Hawaii, those dates are a little earlier.  For packages to arrive by Christmas, customers have until December 16th for USPS Ground Advantage shipments  For First-Class mail the holiday shipping deadline is December 18th and you will need to post your package by  December 19th  for Priority Mail or December 20th for Priority Mail Express.

FedEx

FedEx Ground holiday shipping deadlines vary depending on how many days the customer selects for shipping.

  • For one day shipping, the deadline is on December 23rd.
  • For two day shipping, the cutoff is December 20th.
  • For three day shipping the deadline is December 19th.
  • For four day shipping, the cutoff is December 18th.
  • For five day shipping, the deadline is December 17th.

For packages to arrive through FedEx Express Saver, the holiday shipping deadlines in 2024 are December 19th.

If you decide to use FedEx 2Day, the cutoff is December 20th.

UPS

UPS advises its customers to head on over to the website to determine the cutoff dates for ground shipments since the holiday shipping deadlines are dependent on what service a customer selects. The calculator will also tell you how much shipping a package will cost.

For UPS 3 Day Select, the deadline is December 19th.

If you chose to go by plane, the deadline for 2nd Day Air is December 20th.