Table of Contents
- What UPS Services Are Available on Christmas Day 2025?
- When Does UPS Resume Normal Service After Christmas?
- What Are the UPS Christmas Shipping Deadlines for 2025?
- How Does Christmas Day Impact International UPS Shipments?
- What Alternatives Exist for Christmas Day Delivery?
- Does UPS Charge Extra During the Christmas Season?
What UPS Services Are Available on Christmas Day 2025?
UPS Express Critical service is the only UPS service operating on Christmas Day 2025. This specialized service, provided by Marken, handles urgent shipments for healthcare facilities, government agencies, and critical supply chain needs that cannot wait for regular business hours.
UPS Express Critical operates 24/7/365 and provides same-day, next-flight-out, and emergency delivery services. The service covers time-sensitive medical specimens, pharmaceuticals, organs for transplant, and high-value items requiring immediate delivery regardless of holidays.
Regular UPS services suspended on Christmas Day include:
- UPS Ground
- UPS Next Day Air
- UPS 2nd Day Air
- UPS 3 Day Select
- UPS SurePost
- International services
- UPS Store pickup and drop-off locations
When Does UPS Resume Normal Service After Christmas?
UPS resumes normal pickup and delivery service on Friday, December 26, 2025. All standard service levels return to regular operations, including Ground, Air services, and international shipping options.
UPS observes eight federal holidays annually: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas when it falls on a weekend. You can review the full UPS holiday schedule to plan your shipments around every observed date before committing to a delivery window.
What Are the UPS Christmas Shipping Deadlines for 2025?
UPS Christmas shipping deadlines for 2025 vary by service level, with express options offering the latest shipping dates for last-minute holiday gifts. Missing these deadlines means your package won’t arrive until after Christmas.
| UPS Service | Christmas Delivery Deadline 2025 | Transit Time |
|---|---|---|
| UPS Ground | December 18, 2025 | 1–5 business days |
| UPS 3 Day Select | December 19, 2025 | 3 business days |
| UPS 2nd Day Air | December 22, 2025 | 2 business days |
| UPS Next Day Air | December 23, 2025 | Next business day |
From November 17, 2025, through January 9, 2026, a limited number of UPS Ground and UPS Standard packages require additional time in transit due to peak season volume. Plan one extra day for Ground shipments during this period.
How Does Christmas Day Impact International UPS Shipments?
International UPS shipments face additional delays around Christmas Day due to customs processing shutdowns and destination country holidays. Most countries observe Christmas as a national holiday, creating a global shipping pause.
UPS Worldwide Express and UPS Worldwide Expedited services suspend operations on December 25, with international shipments resuming processing on December 26. However, destination customs offices may remain closed for extended periods in some countries.
European destinations typically observe Boxing Day (December 26) as an additional holiday, extending the service suspension until December 27. Asian markets generally resume normal operations on December 26, while Latin American countries may observe extended Christmas periods.
What Alternatives Exist for Christmas Day Delivery?
UPS Express Critical remains the primary option for Christmas Day delivery, but qualifying shipments must meet specific criteria. This service requires advance arrangement and serves primarily healthcare, government, and critical business needs.
For general consumer packages, no UPS service guarantees Christmas Day delivery. Standard UPS services require shipment completion by the deadlines listed above to ensure December 24 arrival.
ParcelPath users can access UPS Ground rates up to 89% below retail pricing, making it cost-effective to ship earlier in the season rather than rushing with expensive express services. Planning ahead with Ground service often costs less than half the price of last-minute Next Day Air.
Does UPS Charge Extra During the Christmas Season?
UPS implements peak season surcharges from November 17, 2025, through January 9, 2026. These additional fees apply to all standard services and vary per package depending on service level and destination zone.
Additional handling surcharges apply to oversized packages during peak season. Packages over 130 inches in length plus girth face an extra surcharge on top of standard rates and peak fees.
Large package surcharges increase during peak season for packages weighing 70–150 pounds. The fee jumps higher per package for this weight range during the holiday period.
FAQ: UPS Christmas Day Delivery
Can UPS deliver packages on Christmas Day if I pay extra?
No, UPS does not offer regular package delivery on Christmas Day regardless of payment. Only UPS Express Critical service operates on December 25, serving urgent healthcare, government, and critical business shipments that cannot wait.
Will my UPS package be delayed if it ships right before Christmas?
Yes, packages shipped after the Christmas deadlines will be delayed until regular service resumes on December 26, 2025. UPS Ground packages shipped after December 18 will not arrive until after Christmas.
Does UPS deliver on Christmas Eve 2025?
Yes, UPS provides regular pickup and delivery service on Christmas Eve (December 24, 2025) since it falls on Wednesday. All standard UPS services operate normal business hours on Christmas Eve.
What happens to packages in transit on Christmas Day?
Packages in transit on Christmas Day remain at UPS facilities and continue their journey on December 26, 2025. Transit time calculations exclude December 25 as a business day, so delivery schedules adjust accordingly.
Are UPS Store locations open on Christmas Day?
No, UPS Store locations close on Christmas Day. UPS Stores resume normal operating hours on December 26, 2025, for package drop-off, pickup, and retail services.
Sources
- UPS Official Holiday Schedule 2025 – UPS.com
- UPS Peak Season Surcharges 2025-2026 – UPS.com
- UPS Express Critical Services – UPS.com
- UPS Christmas Shipping Deadlines 2025 – UPS.com
Explore more in our Shipping Services and Solutions hub.
UPS on Christmas Day: the one narrow exception
UPS does not run regular pickup or delivery on Christmas Day — December 25 is a holiday on which the standard ground and air networks are closed, so a package in transit simply waits and moves on the next operating day. The one exception is UPS Express Critical, the company’s premium urgent-logistics service, which operates on holidays for genuinely time-critical shipments at a premium price. For everyone shipping normal parcels, though, the practical answer is that nothing gets delivered on Christmas itself.
This matters most for the days on either side. Because December 25 is a non-operating day, transit-time counts skip it: a ground shipment quoted a certain number of business days will not count Christmas, and the surrounding holiday-week schedule can shift pickups and deliveries. Building that dead day into your timeline is the difference between a gift arriving on the 24th and one that lands on the 26th.
Planning around the UPS holiday schedule
- Ship well before the cutoff — UPS publishes last-ship dates each December for each service level to reach a destination by Christmas Eve; the faster (and pricier) the service, the later you can ship.
- Christmas Eve has reduced hours — December 24 typically runs a limited schedule, not a full delivery day, so treat it as partial.
- New Year’s Day is also closed — the same no-regular-service rule applies January 1, which affects late-December shipments.
- Weather compounds the holidays — winter storms during peak week stack delays on top of the closed holiday, so the earlier you ship, the more buffer you have.
If a shipment genuinely must move on Christmas Day, Express Critical is the only UPS path; for everything else, the winning move is simply shipping early enough that the closed holiday falls harmlessly in the middle of the transit window.
FAQ: Does UPS Deliver on Christmas Day
Does UPS deliver on Christmas Day?
No. Regular UPS services — Ground, Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, and SurePost — are suspended on Christmas Day, and normal pickup and delivery resume the following day (December 26). The only exception is UPS Express Critical, a 24/7/365 emergency service for time-sensitive medical and high-value shipments.
Part of our UPS Delivery Schedule guide. Related: UPS Delivery Policy, UPS Business Days, UPS Closing Time.
