Post Office releases dates for international Christmas mail

With global coronavirus restrictions expected to be in place over the festive season, Royal Mail is encouraging its customers to post early, to ensure their cards and gifts reach family and friends abroad in time for the big day.

Customers can also pay for postage online using Royal Mail’s Click & Drop at https://parcel.royalmail.com. They can pay for postage, print labels and take items to over 14,000 locations including 24-hour parcel postboxes, Royal Mail Customer Service Points and Post Office branches.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY SERVICE

The latest recommended posting date to the USA and Canada for Royal Mail’s International Economy service, is Monday, November 2.

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD SERVICE

For customers using the International Standard mail service, cards and gifts going to Australia and New Zealand will need to be posted by Friday, December 4.

Customers wishing to send festive items to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central & South America, the Far East, and the Middle East, will need to post by Wednesday, December 9.

Those wanting to send cards or gifts to Canada, Cyprus and Malta, should post no later than Thursday, December 10.

For Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia), Greece and Turkey, cards and gifts should be sent no later than Friday, December 11.

Letters and parcels to Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the USA should be posted no later than Saturday, December 12 to arrive in time for Christmas.

Items being sent to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland, will need to be in the mail by Wednesday, December 16.

Season’s Greetings going to Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg should be posted by Friday, December 18.

For those wishing to send festive cards and gifts to servicemen abroad, the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) deadlines are: Thursday, November 30 for mail to Operational BFPOs and Thursday, December 7 for mail to static BFPOs.

The latest recommended posting dates apply to both International Standard and International tracking and signature services.

Andy Pickering, Royal Mail, International Network Director, said: "We want to make sure that our customers get the best value service to reach right across the globe when sending parcels and cards to family and friends. We have spent a great deal of time working with our overseas partners to provide the best network we can. We know what this time of the year means to people, especially during these unprecedented times, when international travel has been so restricted."