2024 Holiday Shipping Deadlines for USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL
by EasyPost
Updated: November 4, 2024
Are you delivering just in time for the holidays? Ensure your packages make it to their destination before December 25, 2024 by following these carrier recommended ship-by dates. Each carrier is advising shippers different dates and have different holiday hours, so please double check the sections that apply to you*.
- USPS holiday hours
- UPS holiday hours
- FedEx holiday hours
- DHL Express holiday hours
- DHL eCommerce holiday hours
And if you haven’t heard, peak season surcharges are out for all major carriers. See our blog post to learn more.
*Actual delivery date may vary and is based on origin, destination, carrier acceptance time, and other conditions.
USPS holiday shipping deadlines
Shipping with USPS this holiday season? To ensure your package arrives by December 25 see our tables below to verify your exact ship by date for your destination and mail class.
USPS U.S. Domestic
Domestic Mail Class (excluding Alaska & Hawaii) | Ship by date |
|---|---|
USPS Ground Advantage® | December 18 |
First-Class Mail® | December 18 |
Priority Mail® | December 19 |
Priority Mail Express® | December 21 |
Domestic Mail Class (Alaska & Hawaii only) | Ship by date |
|---|---|
USPS Ground Advantage® | December 16 |
First-Class Mail® | December 18 |
Priority Mail® | December 19 |
Priority Mail Express® | December 20 |
Military Mail (APO/FPO/DPO) | AE Zips 090-092 | AE Zip 093 | AE Zips 094-099 | AA Zip 340 | AP Zips 962-966 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USPS Ground Advantage Service | November 4 | November 4 | November 4 | November 4 | November 4 |
First-Class Mail Service | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 |
Priority Mail Service | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 | December 9 |
Priority Mail Express Military® Service (PMEMS)* | December 16 | N/A | December 16 | December 16 | December 16 |
* PMEMS is available to selected military/diplomatic Post Offices. Check with your local Post Office to determine if this service is available to an APO/FPO/DPO address.
USPS International
Destination | First-Class Package International Service® | Priority Mail International® Service | Priority Mail Express International® Service |
|---|---|---|---|
Africa | December 2 | December 2 | December 9 |
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 9 |
Europe | December 9 | December 9 | December 16 |
Mexico | December 9 | December 9 | December 16 |
Middle East | December 9 | December 9 | December 16 |
UPS holiday shipping deadlines
UPS recommends that all shippers follow these guidelines for December 24, 2024, delivery. UPS shippers should also note that UPS is closed on the following days, but UPS Express Critical® service is still available.
- Thanksgiving (Nov 28)
- Christmas Day (Dec 25)
- New Year’s (Jan 1)
Please note: Scheduled delivery times for UPS Air and international Air packages scheduled for delivery Nov. 29 – Dec. 31 will be extended as follows:
- UPS Next Day Air® Early and UPS Worldwide Express Plus® services will be extended by 90 minutes
- UPS Next Day Air®, UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.®, and UPS Worldwide Express® services to commercial locations with a typical 10:30 AM or 12:00 PM delivery time will be extended to 3:00 PM.
- UPS Next Day Air® and UPS Worldwide Express® services to residential locations and all other time definite Air and International Air services will be extended to end-of-day.
- A limited number of UPS 2nd Day Air® and UPS 3 Day Select® packages tendered Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, and UPS 2nd Day Air® packages tendered Dec. 18 may require an additional day in transit. The most up-to-date transit time details will be available at ups.com/ctc at the time of shipping.
UPS U.S. Domestic
Service level | Ship by date |
|---|---|
UPS® Ground | Check ups.com/ctc for details |
UPS 3 Day Select® | December 19 |
UPS 2nd Day Air® | December 20 |
UPS Next Day Air® | December 23 |
UPS International
U.S. to Canada | Ship by date |
|---|---|
UPS® Standard (from the 48 contiguous states only) | Check ups.com/ctc for details |
UPS Worldwide Expedited® | December 20 |
UPS Worldwide Express® | December 23 |
U.S. to Mexico | Ship by date |
|---|---|
UPS® Standard (from the 48 contiguous states only) | Check ups.com/ctc for details |
UPS Worldwide Expedited® | December 19 |
UPS Worldwide Express® | December 20 |
FedEx holiday shipping deadlines
FedEx advises all shippers to follow these guidelines to ensure timely delivery for December 24. Some FedEx services may have reduced hours from December 16 - December 26, with all branches being closed on December 25. However FedEx Custom Critical® is always available.
FedEx U.S. Domestic Parcel, Air Freight, and LTL Freight services
Parcel services | 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 20 |
FedEx Express Saver® | December 19 |
FedEx Ground® | December 17 - December 23* |
FedEx Home Delivery® | December 17 - December 23* |
FedEx Ground® Economy | December 13 |
*Ship by date ranges based on origin and destination. See FedEx’s website to calculate transit times for your shipment.
Air freight | Ship by date |
|---|---|
FedEx 1Day® Freight | December 23 |
FedEx 2Day® Freight | December 20 |
FedEx 3Day® Freight | December 19 |
LTL freight | Ship by date |
|---|---|
FedEx Freight® Priority (inclusive of FedEx Freight® Direct) | December 16 - December 20* |
FedEx Freight® Economy (inclusive of FedEx Freight® Direct) | December 11 |
*Ship by date ranges based on origin and destination. See FedEx’s website to calculate transit times for your shipment.
FedEx International
U.S. to Canada | Ship by date |
|---|---|
FedEx® International Next Flight | December 23 |
FedEx International First® | December 20 |
FedEx International Priority® | December 19 |
FedEx International Priority Distribution® | December 19 |
FedEx International Economy® | December 18 |
FedEx International Connect Plus | December 17 |
FedEx Ground® | December 13 - December 23* |
*Ship by date ranges based on origin and destination. See FedEx’s website to calculate transit times for your shipment.
U.S. to Mexico | Ship by date |
|---|---|
FedEx® International Next Flight | December 23 |
FedEx International First® | December 20 |
FedEx International Priority® | December 20 |
FedEx International Economy® | December 19 |
FedEx International Connect Plus | December 19 |
U.S. to Puerto Rico | Ship by date |
|---|---|
FedEx® International Next Flight | December 23 |
FedEx International First® | December 20 |
FedEx International Priority® | December 19 |
FedEx International Economy® | December 18 |
DHL Express holiday shipping deadlines
DHL Express recommends scheduling your deliveries to arrive a day before a public holiday. Therefore, to ship in time for Christmas, the cut-off delivery date should be December 24. DHL Express is closed on December 25.
DHL eCommerce holiday shipping deadlines
For DHL eCommerce delivery prior to December 25, see the holiday ship by dates below. DHL eCommerce will halt all pickup and drop off services in the U.S. and Canada on December 25 and resume the following day for the U.S. For Canada only, pickups and drop offs will still be stopped on December 26 for Boxing Day.
DHL eCommerce U.S. Domestic
Service levels | Ship by date* |
|---|---|
SmartMail Expedited Max | December 18 |
SmartMail Expedited | December 17 |
SmartMail Ground | December 16 |
*Continental U.S. only
DHL eCommerce International
For international shipments, refer to the tables below which provide specific ship dates by product and destination country.
DHL Parcel International Direct (PLT)
Destination country | Date | Destination country | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Australia | November 29 | Mexico | December 16 |
Canada | December 11 | Netherlands | December 11 |
France | December 12 | New Zealand | November 29 |
Germany | December 11 | Rest of EU** | December 6 |
Hong Kong | November 29 | Singapore | November 29 |
Ireland | December 9 | South Korea | December 6 |
Israel* | Spain | December 9 | |
Italy | December 9 | United Kingdom | December 13 |
Japan | December 9 |
*Israel: All services to Gaza Strip and West Bank have been suspended. For all other Israel destinations, DHL Parcel International Standard and DHL Packet International shipments will be accepted and processed, however, please expect significant transit delays. DHL Parcel International Direct service is suspended.
**Rest of EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden
DHL Parcel International Standard (PLY)
Country | Date | Country | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
African Countries | November 6 | Japan | November 29 |
Australia | November 28 | Mexico | December 5 |
Brazil | November 13 | New Zealand | November 12 |
Canada | December 5 | Rest of Asia | November 27 |
Eastern Europe | December 3 | Rest of Latin America | November 12 |
France | December 4 | Thailand | December 3 |
Germany | December 6 | United Kingdom | December 11 |
Hong Kong | November 30 | Western Europe | December 3 |
Israel |
DHL Packet International (PKY)
Country | Date | Country | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
African Countries | November 6 | Japan | November 29 |
Australia | November 28 | Mexico | December 5 |
Brazil | November 13 | New Zealand | November 12 |
Canada | December 5 | Rest of Asia | November 27 |
Eastern Europe | December 3 | Rest of Latin America | November 12 |
France | December 4 | Thailand | December 3 |
Germany | December 6 | United Kingdom | December 11 |
Hong Kong | November 30 | Western Europe | December 3 |
Israel |