Holiday Shipping Deadlines 2026: USPS, UPS and FedEx Dates

October 10, 2026

Christmas falls on a Friday this year, and the carriers have built their 2026 calendars around it. The U.S. Postal Service released its recommended send-by dates on Sept. 22. FedEx has posted a full last-day-to-ship chart for packages meant to arrive by Thursday, Dec. 24. UPS, as of Oct. 5, has published which days it will be open and closed but has not posted its service-by-service ship-by dates for Christmas.

Every date below comes from the carriers' own pages. Nothing here is estimated from past years. This page will be updated when UPS publishes its dates and if any carrier changes its schedule.

USPS

The Postal Service's dates are recommended send-by dates for delivery before Dec. 25. For the lower 48 states, according to the holiday shipping page on usps.com:

USPS Ground Advantage: Thursday, Dec. 17
First-Class Mail: Thursday, Dec. 17
Priority Mail: Friday, Dec. 18
Priority Mail Express: Saturday, Dec. 19

Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories run one day earlier on the slowest service and match everything else:

USPS Ground Advantage: Wednesday, Dec. 16
First-Class Mail: Thursday, Dec. 17
Priority Mail: Friday, Dec. 18
Priority Mail Express: Saturday, Dec. 19

USPS adds a caution in the fine print: Ground Advantage packages going to or from Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the territories can take longer, and the agency suggests checking the estimated delivery date for the ZIP code and sending earlier if needed.

For military mail to APO, FPO and DPO addresses, the earliest date on the USPS chart is Wednesday, Nov. 4, for Ground Advantage. First-Class Mail and Priority Mail to most of those ZIP codes should go by Wednesday, Dec. 9, and Priority Mail Express Military Service by Wednesday, Dec. 16, where it is offered.

The Postal Service also notes that Hanukkah runs early this year, Dec. 4 through Dec. 12. Anything meant for the first night needs to leave well ahead of the Christmas dates above.

FedEx

FedEx's 2026 chart is built around arrival by Thursday, Dec. 24. Its last days to ship within the U.S.:

FedEx SameDay: Thursday, Dec. 24
FedEx First Overnight, Priority Overnight and Standard Overnight: Wednesday, Dec. 23
FedEx 2Day and 2Day AM: Tuesday, Dec. 22
FedEx Express Saver: Monday, Dec. 21
FedEx Ground Economy: Tuesday, Dec. 15

FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery depend on how many days the package needs in transit, which FedEx sets by origin and destination ZIP code. Per the chart, a 5-day ground shipment has to go by Thursday, Dec. 17. A 4-day shipment goes by Friday, Dec. 18. The 3-day, 2-day and 1-day lanes close Monday, Dec. 21, Tuesday, Dec. 22 and Wednesday, Dec. 23. FedEx says ground transit is typically 1 to 5 business days within the contiguous U.S. and 3 to 7 to and from Alaska and Hawaii.

Two other notes from FedEx's 2026 winter service schedule are worth knowing. All FedEx locations and operations are closed on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 26), Christmas Day and New Year's Day. And from Nov. 23 through Jan. 4, FedEx is pushing delivery commitment times back by 90 minutes on several time-definite express services, including First Overnight, Priority Overnight and 2Day AM. A box promised for the morning may land a little later in the day.

FedEx says its dates can change and that any updates will be posted to its holiday page.

UPS

UPS has not posted its 2026 last-day-to-ship dates for Christmas. Its holiday shipping page still links to a 2025 year-end schedule. We are not going to list last year's dates or guess at this year's, since Christmas falls on a different day of the week and the dates shift.

What UPS has published is its 2026 operating calendar. According to that schedule:

Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26: closed. UPS lists Friday, Nov. 27 as open.
Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24: UPS delivers Air, international Air, UPS Standard and UPS Ground packages. Pickups that day are only for Air and international Air packages, and only if prearranged by Friday, Dec. 18. There is no Ground pickup on Dec. 24.
Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25: closed.
New Year's Eve, Thursday, Dec. 31: delivery of Air and international Air only. Pickup for those services only if prearranged by Monday, Dec. 28.
New Year's Day, Friday, Jan. 1, 2027: closed.

The practical takeaway is that a UPS Ground box handed over on Dec. 24 is not moving until the following week. When UPS posts its ship-by dates, this page will carry them.

Shipping to Canada

Canadian deadlines run earlier, and both published carriers say their dates do not account for everything a border crossing can add.

USPS to Canada, for delivery before Dec. 25:

First-Class Package International Service: Wednesday, Dec. 9
Priority Mail International: Wednesday, Dec. 9
Priority Mail Express International: Wednesday, Dec. 16

Those are the same dates USPS gives for every international region on its chart, from Mexico to Australia.

FedEx from the U.S. to Canada, for arrival by Dec. 24:

FedEx International Next Flight, International First and International Priority: Wednesday, Dec. 23
FedEx International Priority Distribution: Tuesday, Dec. 22
FedEx International Economy and International Connect Plus: Monday, Dec. 21

FedEx Ground to Canada is again tied to transit days. The chart lists Tuesday, Dec. 15 for a 7-day lane, Wednesday, Dec. 16 for 6 days, Thursday, Dec. 17 for 5 days, Friday, Dec. 18 for 4 days and Saturday, Dec. 19 for 3 days. The 2-day and 1-day lanes close Tuesday, Dec. 22 and Wednesday, Dec. 23.

FedEx's own footnote matters here. Its international dates do not build in time for customs clearance, and it advises allowing extra days for delivery outside major cities. A box of food headed to Toronto or Windsor goes through Canadian customs like anything else, and food has its own rules at the border. We cover those in our guide to sending food gifts from the U.S. to Canada.

UPS has not published 2026 Christmas dates for Canada either.

Reading the dates

A carrier's send-by date is the last day it expects a package to make it, assuming it is accepted that day. USPS spells this out on its chart: actual delivery "may vary," depending on origin, destination, when the Post Office accepts the package and other conditions. Dropping a box at the counter at 4:45 p.m. on Dec. 17 is not the same as handing it over that morning, and a box picked up from a drop box after the last collection effectively ships the next business day.

The other thing to watch is the gap between the order date and the ship date. When you buy from a store, the store's packing time comes before the carrier's clock starts. That is why retailers post their own order-by dates, which are always earlier than the carrier dates on this page.

Detroit Gift Store's order-by dates for Christmas are listed in the shipping section of our home page. Boxes are packed by hand in Detroit and ship to all 50 states; most can also ship to Canada.