Ship with confidence this holiday season by marking your calendars with crucial shipping deadlines. USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL and more have released their end-of-year schedules so you can make sure your customers’ packages arrive just in time.* Each carrier has different ship-by dates and holiday hours, so please double-check your services below. The ship-by date is the day the package is handed off to the carrier.
Want to learn about peak season surcharges? See our 2026 peak surcharge blog here.
*Delivery dates may vary based on origin, destination, carrier acceptance time, and other conditions.
Always arrive on time with Luma AI
Make your holiday shipping more reliable with Luma AI. As an EasyPost customer, you have access to Luma AI, our shipping tool trained on billions of shipments. Its delivery date estimates are 39% more accurate than carrier SLAs by making custom calculations based on your exact service, origin, destination, and ship date.
USPS holiday shipping deadlines
Shipping with USPS this holiday season? To ensure your package arrives before December 25, see the tables below to verify your exact ship-by date for your destination and mail class.
USPS – Contiguous U.S. (Lower 48 States)
|
Mail Class |
Ship-by Date |
|
USPS Ground Advantage® |
December 17 |
|
First-Class Mail® |
December 17 |
|
Priority Mail® |
December 18 |
|
Priority Mail Express® |
December 19 |
USPS – Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, & U.S. Territories
|
Mail Class |
Ship-by Date |
|
USPS Ground Advantage® |
See USPS website for your ZIP code, 10-day+ service expectation |
|
First-Class Mail® |
December 17 |
|
Priority Mail® |
December 18 |
|
Priority Mail Express® |
December 19 |
USPS – International Mail
|
Destination |
First-Class Package International® |
Priority Mail International® |
Priority Mail Express International® |
|
Africa |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Asia/Pacific Rim |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Australia/New Zealand |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Canada |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Caribbean |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Central & South America |
December 2 |
December 2 |
December 16 |
|
Europe |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Mexico |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
|
Middle East |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 16 |
USPS – Military Mail
|
Mail Class |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs™ 090-092 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 093 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 094-099 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 340 |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 962-966 |
|
USPS Ground Advantage® |
November 4 |
November 4 |
November 4 |
November 4 |
November 4 |
|
First-Class Mail® |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
|
Priority Mail® |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
December 9 |
|
Priority Mail Express Military® (PMEMS) |
December 16 |
n/a |
December 16 |
December 16 |
December 16 |
UPS holiday shipping deadlines
Shipping with UPS this holiday season? To ensure your package arrives before December 25, see the tables below to verify your exact ship-by date for your destination and mail class.
Please note, UPS will be closed on the following days:
- Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day
- Friday, December 25, Christmas Day
- Friday, January 1, New Year’s Day
UPS – U.S. Domestic
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
UPS® Ground |
Check ups.com/ctc for details |
|
UPS 3 Day Select® |
December 21 |
|
UPS 2nd Day Air® |
December 22 |
|
UPS Next Day Air® |
December 23 |
UPS – U.S. to Canada
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
UPS® Standard (from contiguous U.S.) |
Check ups.com/ctc for details |
|
UPS Worldwide Expedited® |
December 22 |
|
UPS Worldwide Express® |
December 23 |
UPS – U.S. to Mexico
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
UPS® Standard (from contiguous U.S.) |
Check ups.com/ctc for details |
|
UPS Worldwide Expedited® |
December 21 |
|
UPS Worldwide Express® |
December 22 |
UPS – U.S. to Other Destinations
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
Any UPS service to other destinations |
Check ups.com/ctc for details |
FedEx holiday shipping deadlines
Shipping with FedEx this holiday season? To ensure your package arrives before December 25, see the tables below to verify your exact ship-by date for your destination and service.
Depending on your shipment’s origin location and route, the following FedEx service levels could deliver before December 25 with a later ship-by date than stated below.
- FedEx Ground®
- FedEx Home Delivery®
FedEx – U.S. Domestic Package, Air Freight, and LTL Freight Services
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
FedEx SameDay® |
December 24 |
|
FedEx First Overnight®, FedEx Priority Overnight®, FedEx Standard Overnight®, Extra Hours |
December 23 |
|
FedEx 2Day® & FedEx 2Day® AM |
December 22 |
|
FedEx Express Saver® |
December 21 |
|
FedEx Ground® |
December 17 |
|
FedEx Home Delivery® |
December 17 |
|
FedEx Ground® Economy |
December 15 |
|
FedEx 1Day® Freight |
December 23 |
|
FedEx 2Day® Freight |
December 22 |
|
FedEx 3Day® Freight |
December 21 |
FedEx – U.S. to Canada
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
FedEx® International Next Flight |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International First® |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International Priority® |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International Priority Distribution® |
December 22 |
|
FedEx International Economy® |
December 21 |
|
FedEx® International Connect Plus |
December 21 |
|
FedEx Ground® |
December 15 |
FedEx – U.S. to Mexico
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
FedEx® International Next Flight |
December 22 |
|
FedEx International First® |
December 22 |
|
FedEx International Priority® |
December 22 |
|
FedEx International Economy® |
December 21 |
|
FedEx® International Connect Plus |
December 21 |
FedEx – U.S. to Puerto Rico
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
FedEx® International Next Flight |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International First® |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International Priority® |
December 23 |
|
FedEx International Economy® |
December 22 |
DHL Express and eCommerce holiday shipping deadlines
Shipping with DHL Express this holiday season? DHL Express recommends scheduling your parcels to arrive no later than December 24.
Please note, DHL will be closed on the following days:
- December 25, Christmas Day
- January 1, New Year’s Day
DHL eCommerce – Domestic
|
Service Level |
Ship-by Date |
|
DHL Parcel Expedited Max |
December 18 |
|
DHL Parcel Expedited |
December 17 |
|
DHL Parcel Ground |
December 16 |
GOFO holiday shipping deadlines
To ensure all GOFO packages reach their destination before December 25, make sure they’re inducted into the GOFO network no later than December 17, 2026.
