Press releases
Mailing deadlines for letters and parcels
For Swiss Post, the run-up to Christmas is the busiest time of the year. It handles millions of parcels and letters every day. To ensure that they arrive by Christmas Eve, Swiss Post would like to draw your attention to the recommended mailing dates. Inpayments and payment orders are also subject to final deadlines if the amounts are to be credited and debited to the accounts in question before the end of the year. Switzerland’s 80 biggest post offices will remain open for postal business until 4 p.m. on 24 and 31 December.
Rich Content Section
Swiss Post handles record amounts of mail during the Christmas period. On peak days over one million parcels pass through its sorting centers and delivery staff distribute as many as 20 million letters, newspapers and promotional mailings. Because of the huge volume of mail, Swiss Post recommends that its customers drop off their Christmas mail before the acceptance deadlines to ensure that their mail arrives on time. The latest possible final acceptance times for letters and parcels are:
| Product | Letters | Parcels | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | A Mail / PostPac PRIORITY[1] | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 |
| B Mail / PostPac ECONOMY[1] | Monday, 21.12.2015 | Tuesday, 22.12.2015 | |
| Swiss-Courier “Standard”, “Rapid” and “Turbo”[2] | Thursday, 24.12.2015 | Thursday, 24.12.2015 | |
| Swiss-Courier “Lightning”[3] | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 | |
| Swiss-Express “Moon”[4],[5] | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 | Wednesday, 23.12.2015 | |
| Europe | URGENT | Monday, 21.12.2015 | Friday, 18.12.2015 |
| Other countries | URGENT | Friday, 18.12.2015 | Thursday, 17.12.2015 |
1 ↑ Please observe the respective final acceptance times. Swiss Post recommends that its customers drop off consignments one day before the latest possible acceptance date.
2 ↑ Acceptance of Swiss-Courier “Standard”, “Rapid” and “Turbo” on 24 and 31 December 2015 up until 11 a.m.
3 ↑ Swiss-Courier “Lightning” is not available on 24 and 31 December 2015.
4 ↑ Mail your items by the evening deadline; delivery by 11 a.m. (instead of 9 a.m.) on 19, 24 and 31 December 2015. Except for Geneva where 31 December is a holiday, and items must therefore be mailed by 29 December at the latest.
5 ↑ Mail your items by the evening deadline on 30 December 2015; delivery by 11 a.m. (instead of 9 a.m.) on 31 December 2015. Except for Geneva where 31 December is a holiday, and items must therefore be mailed by 29 December at the latest.
Inpayments made on time
The following deadlines apply to domestic payments which must be debited from a customer’s account and credited to the recipient’s account by the end of 2015:
| Inpayments at post office counters | Monday, 28.12.2015 |
|---|---|
| Written payment orders | Received by PostFinance by Monday, 28.12.2015 |
| E-finance payments | Accepted until Wednesday, 30.12.2015, 11.59 p.m. |
| Inpayments to retirement savings account 3a | Post office counters: Tuesday, 29.12.2015 Paper payment orders: Received by PostFinance by Tuesday, 29.12.2015 E-finance: Tuesday, 29.12.2015 |
Extended opening hours over the holiday period
Swiss Post will be extending its post office opening hours over the holiday period. On 24 and 31 December, the counters at Switzerland’s 80 biggest post offices will remain open until 4 p.m. The detailed opening hours can be found at the entrance to every post office and online at www.swisspost.ch/locations.
Ensuring a trouble-free service
To ensure your mail is processed smoothly, please address and package your items correctly. Swiss Post would like to remind its customers that the address should be placed at the bottom right-hand corner of the parcel and that bright, single-colour packaging materials are particularly well suited to automatic processing. It is also important that parcels are only sealed using adhesive tape, not with string. Swiss Post offers the PostPac as a robust alternative to your own packaging. Swiss Post recommends that letters containing valuable or fragile items be sent by “Registered” post and parcels be sent using the “Signature” value-added service. Swiss Post is also introducing a range of attractive stamps and a wide selection of stationery in its product range – all in time for Christmas.