Planning on shipping holiday presents and care packages to U.S. service members and diplomats overseas?
The first USPS deadline for sending holiday mail to friends and family stationed abroad is quickly approaching.
To send packages to military and diplomatic posts abroad, the Postal Service offers a discounted price of $21.15 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box. The price includes a $1.50 discount per box for mail sent to APO/FPO/DPO (Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office) destinations worldwide.
Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes are available at no cost at Post Office locations and can also be ordered via usps.com. Postage, labels and customs forms can also be printed online anytime using the Click-N-Ship feature. All mailing products can be found at store.usps.com/store/home.
2021 holiday shipping deadlines
The Postal Service is expecting to process more than 12.6 million pounds of mail for APO/FPO/DPO destinations this holiday season.
To ensure timely delivery of holiday wishes by Dec. 25, the Postal Service recommends that cards and packages be sent to military APO/FPO/DPO addresses overseas no later than the mailing dates listed below.
Military Mail Addressed To and From | Priority Mail Express Military® Service (PMEMS)1 | First-Class™ Mail Letters and Cards | Priority Mail® | Parcel Airlift Mail (PAL) | Space Available Mail (SAM) | Retail Ground |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 090-092 | Dec 16 | Dec 09 | Dec 09 | Services no longer available | Nov 06 | |
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIP 093 | N/A | Dec 09 | Dec 09 | Nov 06 | ||
APO/FPO/DPO AE ZIPs 094-099 | Dec 16 | Dec 09 | Dec 09 | Nov 06 | ||
APO/FPO/DPO AA ZIP 340 | Dec 16 | Dec 09 | Dec 09 | Nov 06 | ||
APO/FPO/DPO AP ZIPs 962-966 | Dec 16 | Dec 09 | Dec 09 | Nov 06 |
1. PMEMS is available to select military/diplomatic Post Offices. Check with your local Post Office to determine if this service is available to an APO/FPO/DPO address.
USPS provides free shipping materials for military families
The Postal Service has created a free Military Care Kit based on the items most frequently requested by military families. The kit contains:
- Two Priority Mail APO/FPO Flat Rate Boxes
- Four Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Boxes
- Priority Mail tape
- Priority Mail address labels
- Six Custom Forms Envelopes
To order the kit, call 800-610-8734. Guidelines for packing, addressing and shipping items to U.S. troops can be found at store.usps.com/store/product/shipping-supplies/military-care-kit-P_MILITARYKIT.
Addressing the package
- Write the service member’s full name
- Include the unit and APO/FPO/DPO address with the 9-digit ZIP Code (if one is assigned). For example:
Army/Air Post Office (APO)
PFC JANE DOE
PSC 3 BOX 4120
APO AE 09021
Fleet Post Office (FPO)
SEAMAN JOSEPH SMITH
UNIT 100100 BOX 4120
FPO AP 96691
Diplomatic Post Office (DPO)
MELANIE ADAMS
UNIT 8400 BOX 0000
DPO AE 09498-0048
Reminders:
- Do not write the country name where the service member is stationed in the address
- Do include a return address
- Inside the box, include the service member’s name and address as well as the sender’s name and address on an index card in case the shipping label gets damaged in transit