The holiday season is fast approaching and the U.S. Postal Service is encouraging customers to plan ahead and ship early to their friends and family stationed on military outposts far away or on the high seas.
To ensure timely delivery of holiday packages by Dec. 25, USPS recommends that cards and packages be sent to military APO/FPO/DPO addresses overseas no later than the mailing dates listed below.
USPS is offering a discounted price of $19.60 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box for packages sent to military and diplomatic posts. 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.
Additionally, USPS 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 here. To order flat-rate boxes featuring the “America Supports You” logo, click here.
Be sure when addressing the package to write the member's full name as well as the unit and APO/FPO/DPO address with the 9-digit zip code, if one is assigned.
