Deadlines to ship gifts are approaching

It’s not too early to think about when to ship holiday gifts.

FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service all expect to deliver a record number of packages this holiday season, which is six days shorter than in 2018 and the shortest since 2013.

To avoid long lines, take note that the Postal Service’s busiest time of the season is two weeks before Christmas. This year, the first night of Hanukkah is Dec. 22.

To help them make sure your gifts get to their final destination on time – and save a little money – here are a few key shipping deadlines to pay attention to.

Holiday shipping deadlines

U.S. Postal Service

Dec. 14: USPS Retail Ground shipments

Dec. 18: Alaska to mainland FirstClass Mail

Dec. 19: Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

Dec. 20: First Class

Dec. 21: Priority Mail; Also deadline for Alaska and Hawaii to the mainland through Priority Mail Express Dec. 23: Priority Mail Express International shipping and military mail deadlines are earlier. Learn more at www.usps.com.

FedEx

Dec. 9: SmartPost

Dec. 16: Ground and home delivery Dec. 19: Express Saver Dec. 20: Two-day options Dec. 23: Overnight options Dec. 25: FedEx SameDay, FedEx SameDay City Direct and City Priority Find rates and transit times at www.fedex.com.

United Parcel Service

Dec. 13: Last day to ship some UPS Ground packages

Dec. 19: UPS 3 Day Select

Dec. 20: 2nd Day Air

Dec. 23: Next Day Air Learn more at www.ups.com

Amazon shipping deadlines

Amazon has announced the dates for Prime members to place orders for delivery by Dec. 25.

Dec. 22: Last day for free delivery on tens of millions of items

Dec. 23: Last day for free one-day delivery on more than 10 million items