Better watch out for these deadlines for gift deliveries
Santa can’t offer online tracking on his gift deliveries.
Thankfully, a few of his big helpers – FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service and UPS – do, along with overnight delivery and other assurances for your holiday gifts.
But they also have earlier delivery schedules than those based at the North Pole, and these packages also won’t be coming through the chimney.
To help them make sure your gifts get to their final destination on time – and save a little money – there a few key shipping deadlines that you should pay attention to.
These are the three major carriers’ recommended send-by dates for expected delivery by Dec. 25:
U.S. Postal Service
Dec. 14: USPS Retail Ground shipments Dec. 18: APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) through Priority Mail Express
Dec. 20: First Class Dec. 20: Priority Mail Dec. 22: Priority Mail Express
FedEx
Find rates and transit times at www.fedex.com. Dec. 17: Ground and home delivery
Dec. 19: Express Saver
Dec. 20: Two-day options
Dec. 21: Overnight options
Dec. 25: FedEx SameDay, FedEx SameDay City Direct and City Priority
United Parcel Service
Calculate time and cost at www.ups.com. Dec. 18: UPS 3 Day Select Dec. 20: 2nd Day Air Dec. 21: Next Day Air
Kelly Tyko is a consumer columnist and retail reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers and TCPalm.com, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Read her Bargainista tips at TCPalm.com/Bargainista, follow her on Twitter @KellyTyko and email her at kelly.tyko@tcpalm.com.