The Postal Service's deadline for its priority and first class mail is more generous and packages need to be mailed out on Thursday.
In a statement, USPS said Dec. 17 was anticipated to be its "busiest day online with more than 8 million consumers predicted to visit usps.com for help shipping that special holiday gift."
The week through Dec. 23 also is expected to be the service's busiest week for mailing, shipping and delivery. It expects to process and deliver nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards.
All three major carriers, Amazon and many retailers also offer last-minute options.
To help them make sure your gifts get to their final destination on time – and save a little money – there are a few key shipping deadlines to pay attention to.
These are the three major carriers' recommended send-by dates for expected delivery by Dec. 25:
U.S. Postal Service
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
Dec. 22: UPS On-Call Pickup for UPS 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.
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