I need to mail some letters from Houston, TX to Austin, TX and
Philadelphia, PA.  Those letters must be received no later than next
Tuesday.  If I mail them this Tuesday by first-class, can they arrive
on time?  Will this Thursday or Friday be OK if I select priority
mail?  How much will priority mail cost?  Thanks.

Hello,

1) The USPS does not guarantee times for arrival of first-class mail.
From my personal experience, your letters should arrive on time if you
mail them tomorrow.

2) Priority Mail is supposed to get from one major city to another in
two days, according to the Domestic Mail Manual
(http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm/i022.pdf). However, it is
also not guaranteed to arrive in a given time. If you want a guarantee
it will be there at a certain time, you will have to use Express Mail
(overnight service) or a private parcel service, such as UPS.

3) Priority Mail is $3.85 for anything that fits into the Priority
Mail envelope or weighs no more than 1 pound. For heavier objects, see
page R-7 of the Domestic Mail Manual. Express Mail costs at least
$10.40.

I hope this answer meets your needs.

Search strategy:

USPS
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=USPS

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Request for Answer Clarification by pengzh-ga on 23 Sep 2002 14:39 PDT

Thanks.  Does "2 days" mean 2 work-day(not including weekend)?

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Clarification of Answer by mwalcoff-ga on 23 Sep 2002 15:44 PDT

All days except Sunday. So two days from Friday means Monday.

Very helpful.