Holiday mailing: A look at recommended send-by dates for Christmas

(ABC 6 News) — With the holidays approaching, you may be wondering when to get packages in the mail to ensure they arrive by Christmas.

Most items will need to be shipped by December 18 in order to make it under the tree in time. Meanwhile, for priority mail, it’s December 19, and for priority express, it is December 21.

It is important to remember that these are the current recommended dates, so to be safe, it may be smart to get Christmas cards and gifts out earlier.

These dates apply to the lower 48 states as Alaska and Hawaii require more time.