From Militarybridge.com
The U.S. Postal Service offers discounted shipping year-round for military, perfect for sending presents and cards to military members this holiday season.
Once again this year, The postal service has rolled their recommended shipping dates for family members and loved ones of service members.
To send packages to friends and loved ones serving in the military and diplomatic posts abroad, the U.S. Postal Service offers a year-round discounted price of $18.45 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate® Box. The price includes a $1.50 per box discount for mail sent to APO/FPO/DPO (Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office) destinations worldwide.
Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes are available at no cost at local Post Offices and can also be ordered via usps.com. Postage, labels and customs forms can also be printed online anytime using Click-N-Ship® feature. All mailing products can be found at store.usps.com/store/home.
To ensure timely delivery of holiday wishes by Dec. 25, the Postal Service recommends that cards and packages be sent to military APO/FPO/DPO addresses overseas no later than the mailing dates listed below.
Military Mail Addressed To and From–APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 090-092
Dec. 18 Priority Mail Express Military Service
Dec. 11 First-Class Letters and Cards
Dec. 11 Priority Mail
Dec. 4 Parcel Airlift
Nov. 27 Space Available Mail
Nov. 6 Retail Ground
Military Mail Addressed To and From –APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIP 093
N/A
Dec. 9 First-Class Letters and Cards
Dec. 9 Priority Mail
Dec. 4 Parcel Airlift
Nov. 27 Space Available Mail
Nov. 6 Retail Ground
Military Mail Addressed To and From–APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 094-098
Dec. 18 Priority Mail Express Military Service
Dec. 11 First-Class Letters and Cards
Dec. 11 Priority Mail
Dec. 4 Parcel Airlift Mail
Nov. 27 Space Availalbe Mail
Nov. 6 Retail Ground
Military Mail Addressed To and From–APO/FPO/DPO AA ZIP 340
Dec. 18 Priority Mail Express Military Service
Dec. 11 First-Class Letters and Cards
Dec. 11 Priority Mail
Dec. 4 Parcel Airlift Mail
Nov. 27 Space Availalbe Mail
Nov. 6 Retail Ground
Military Mail Addressed To and From–APO/FPO/DPO AP ZIPs 962-966
Dec. 18 Priority Mail Express Military Service
Dec. 11 First-Class Letters and Cards
Dec. 11 Priority Mail
Dec. 4 Parcel Airlift Mail
Nov. 27 Space Availalbe Mail
Nov. 6 Retail Ground
DOMESTIC SHIPPING DATES
2020 Holiday Shipping Deadlines–The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office and domestic addresses*:
Nov. 6 — APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) USPS Retail Ground® service
Dec. 9 — APO/FPO/DPO (ZIP Code™ 093 only) Priority Mail® and First-Class Mail®
Dec. 11 — APO/FPO/DPO (all other ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail services
Dec. 15 — USPS Retail Ground service
Dec. 18 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express® service
Dec. 18 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
Dec. 18 — First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
Dec. 19 — Priority Mail service
Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service
Alaska
Dec. 18 — Alaska to mainland First-Class Mail service
Dec. 19 — Alaska to mainland Priority Mail service
Dec. 21 — Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express service
Hawaii
Dec. 15 — Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail services
Dec. 21 — Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express service
*Not a guarantee, unless otherwise noted. Dates are for estimated delivery before December 25. Actual delivery date may vary depending on origin, destination, Post Office™ acceptance date and time and other conditions. Some restrictions apply. For Priority Mail Express® shipments mailed December 21 through December 25, the money-back guarantee applies only if the shipment was not delivered, or delivery was not attempted, within two (2) business days.
Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days
Thanks to more people shopping earlier and shopping online, the Postal Service’s “busiest day” notion is now a thing of the past. Instead, the Postal Service now has a busiest time, and it starts two weeks before Christmas. Beginning the week of Dec. 9, customer traffic is expected to increase, with the week of Dec. 16 – 22 predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week.
Skip the Trip and Ship Online
Consumers don’t even have to leave home to ship their packages, simply visit usps.com. The Postal Service anticipates Dec. 16 will be the Postal Service’s busiest day online with more than 8.5 million consumers predicted to visit usps.com for help shipping that special holiday gift. And usps.com is always open.
It’s estimated nearly 400,000 consumers will use the Click-N-Ship® feature and other online services on Dec. 16 to order free Priority Mail boxes, print shipping labels, purchase postage and even request free next-day Package Pickup.
New as of last year
There have been some changes made to how you can ship your packages this year. For safety reasons, as of Oct. 1, you can no longer drop off stamped packages – which means using individual stamps as postage – that are more than one-half inch thick and/or weighing more than 10 ounces into blue collection boxes, building mail chutes, or Post Office mail slots. Instead you must go to a retail counter or use the self-service kiosk (SSK) to purchase a postage label. If you opt to use the SSK, to buy a postage label, you can drop off your package in the package slot, not the mail slot, at a Post Office. If a restricted package is found in a collection box, mail chute or lobby mail slot it will be returned to sender. Mail that is returned to sender will have a Customer Return Label attached explaining the restrictions and reason for return. So don’t take any chances this year, make sure to follow the new package mailing guidelines.
Click-N-Ship customers are unaffected by this change.
Since Priority Mail supplies are the packaging of choice for families preparing care packages for service members overseas, the Postal Service created a “military care-kit” based on the items most frequently requested by military families. The kit is free year-round, and each box is emblazoned with “America Supports You,” which is sure to comfort those who are away from home.
The kit contains:
- Two Priority Mail APO/FPO/DPO Flat Rate Boxes.
- Four Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Boxes.
- Priority Mail tape.
- Priority Mail address labels.
- Appropriate customs forms.
To order the kit, call 800-610-8734. Guidelines for packing, addressing and shipping items to U.S. troops can be found at store.usps.com/store/product/shipping-supplies/military-care-kit-P_MILITARYKIT. To order Flat-Rate Boxes featuring the “America Supports You” logo, go to usps.com/freeboxes.
Addressing the Package
Write the service member’s full name
Include the unit and APO/FPO/DPO address with the 9-digit ZIP Code (if one is assigned). For example:
Army/Air Post Office (APO)
PFC JOHN DOE
PSC 3 BOX 4120
APO AE 09021
Fleet Post Office (FPO)
SEAMAN JOSEPH SMITH
UNIT 100100 BOX 4120
FPO AP 96691
Diplomatic Post Office (DPO)
JOHN ADAMS
UNIT 8400 BOX 0000
DPO AE 09498-0048
- Do not write the country name where the service member is stationed in the address
- Include a return address
- Inside the box, include the service member’s name and address as well as the sender’s name and address on an index card in case the shipping label gets damaged in transit
This article has been modified to meet updated editorial standards at Military Spouse, which may include the augmentation of material that reflects the expertise and experiences of our staff.
