United States Post Office Announces Christmas Shipping Deadlines

The United States Post Office just revealed deadlines for shipping your Christmas gifts on time.

Savvy shoppers know to pad their delivery with a few extra days during an extremely busy shipping season. It’s helpful to know the absolute, drop-dead last day you can ship and expect a package to arrive by Dec. 25. Thankfully, the USPS isn’t being stingy with that info.

What Day of the Week Is Christmas This Year?

Dec. 25, 2024 falls on a Wednesday, which means at least one extra off day is built into the schedule. USPS offices are closed on Sundays, although mail does get processed.

Similarly, New Years Day 2025 is on a Wednesday meaning post offices in the U.S. will be closed then too.

2024 Christmas Shipping Deadline:

The last chance to ship a package via USPS and have it arrive on time is Dec. 18, with one or two exceptions. That gives the post office a full week to get your gift to family or friends. Seems pretty reasonable, right?

In a press release sent earlier this month, the USPS clarifies that anyone using USPS Ground Advantage to ship to Hawaii and Alaska needs to ship by Dec. 18. The deadline for Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express is Dec. 19 and Dec. 21, respectively.

Here’s the USPS Christmas shipping deadline breakdown:

• Dec. 16: USPS Ground Advantage deadline for packages sent to Alaska and Hawaii.
• Dec. 18: First-Class mail service deadline and USPS Ground Advantage deadline for continental U.S.
• Dec. 19: Priority Mail deadline.
• Dec. 20: Priority Mail Express deadline for Alaska/Hawaii.
• Dec. 21: Priority Mail Express deadline for continental U.S.
• Dec. 25: Christmas Day.

USPS International Shipping Deadlines for Christmas:

There isn’t a firm deadline to ship Christmas gifts internationally. The USPS suggests mid-month for countries nearest America (Canada) and early December for more remote countries in Africa.