Postal Service Tips For A Less-Stressed Holiday

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(NAPSI)—The U.S. Postal Service plans all year for the holiday season. With more than 240 years of experience delivering the holidays, the Postal Service and local postal elves are ready to make this year the best one yet. Here are some tips designed to help postal customers have a happier, less-stressed holiday by getting those greeting cards and packages delivered on time and intact.

Know the deadlines: Mail cards and packages on or before the dates listed.

For military and international destination deadlines, please go to usps.com.

Get a Sneak Peek into Your Mailbox: With Informed Delivery, customers receive an e-mail every morning with images of incoming mail and packages. It allows packages to be rescheduled so they can be delivered when someone is home to receive them. Customers can:

• Sign up for free services and customize the delivery of their package by going to informeddelivery.com

• Receive text messages or e-mail alerts notifying them that a package is en route and additional notifications when the package has been delivered

• Provide delivery instructions online and authorize the carrier to leave the package in a specific location

• Request the package be held at the post office by choosing the Hold for Pickup option

• Redirect packages when they won’t be home to receive it by choosing the USPS Package Intercept option for an additional fee.

Skip the Trip and Ship Online: The Postal Service is uniquely qualified to deliver the holidays—offering customers a variety of customized solutions designed specifically to make shipping holiday packages easy and convenient. Customers can stay home and avoid holiday hassles by:

• Ordering free Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express boxes and envelopes at usps.com/freeboxes, or picking them up from the local post office

• Using Click-N-Ship online at usps.com/ship to create shipping labels with USPS Tracking and pay for postage — and by using flat-rate shipping products, weighing isn’t necessary

• Getting packages picked up for free at home or in the office with Package Pickup. Just hand the package to the mail carrier on his or her regular delivery route. Pickups can also be scheduled at usps.com/pickup.

How to Avoid a Holiday Glitch: Here are some additional tips to help ensure a glitch-free holiday:

All of this information and more can be found at usps.com/holidaynews.