The Christmas rush begins! | Save money and time on your Christmas Shipping by following our Tips

A quick click of the Christmas Countdown Clock saved to my favourites reveals that there are only 34 days till Christmas! There's always a point in the run up to the big day when your mindset changes very quickly from secretly thinking that anyone who has bought their presents already is a super-organised control freak to outwardly panicking that you have done absolutely no shopping yet! Now is that time! And it's not just me. Our Customer Services staff have been anticipating the Christmas rush for a while - and the marked increase in orders in the last couple of weeks show that this has finally arrived.

If you're shipping goods abroad this Christmas. Why not enlist the help of Transglobal Express to take away the stress, and to save you money? We offer international parcel delivery services to almost every destination worldwide, at up to 70% the price of top-name carriers such as DHL, UPS and TNT. As well as being faster, more reliable and more trackable than the post office, it could even be cheaper. 

We've got lots of Christmas tips on our website, including advice on packaging, transit and Christmas opening times for all of our carriers. Click here for more info or call us on 0845 145 1212 and we'll be happy to help you get your Christmas presents to your loved ones on time and in perfect condition!

In the meantime, we've provided our best tips here: 

We hate to be a Scrooge...

 ...and we love a Boots mini perfume set as much as anyone else, but perfumes, aerosols and aftershaves are not permitted on courier services due to them being a flammable hazard. Please don't send them! Give your Granddad socks instead of a Lynx deodorant set, and send your friend in the USA a good book rather than a bottle of Lady Gaga's new fragrance - she'll thank you for it in the long run!

Christmas Wrapping...

...can be as outlandish, fanciful and adorned with ribbons and bows as you like, but please don't forget that there's always a chance that customs officers reserve the right to open it to carry out an inspection. Our Top Tip? Make sure you give a decent description of what's in your gift on your Customs Invoice to minimise the likelihood of this happening. And please place your gifts inside a plain cardboard box so that your Shipping Labels can remain securely attached. 

Christmas Transit Times

Door to door courier services offer the fastest transit times available, and, unlike Royal Mail, these should not be too affected by the Christmas rush. Have a look at our Transit Times calculator to see how long your package will take to be delivered, and add an extra couple of days just to be on the safe side. Happy Shipping! 

Is it that time of year already? | Planning your Christmas deliveries

There are still over 100 days until Christmas (not that we're counting...), but many of us are already starting to plan for the festive period. With shops displaying Christmas decorations earlier than ever, and reports that some supermarket branches already have a Christmas aisle, it's difficult not to notice that the retail sector is commencing its Christmas push.

If you love Christmas, being super-organised, or both, then you'll most likely have already started some Christmas preparation, or at least given it some thought! But what if your Christmas plans involve shipping gifts to family elsewhere in the UK, or even overseas? You want to ensure that your relatives or friends receive their gifts before Christmas day, but preferably not too far in advance! You'll also want to have the peace of mind of knowing that your gifts are received in the exact condition that you sent them, and - if you love tinsel ribbon and bows as much as us - your Christmas wrapping will also be a consideration. Most importantly you'll want to keep the cost of posting your Christmas presents as low as possible, so you can spend less on shipping and more on the present to be shipped! In the hope of helping you address some of these issues, we've put together some ideas to help you plan your Christmas shipping.

When should I post my Christmas parcels?

To be absolutely certain of pre-Christmas delivery, the obvious answer is: the earlier the better! But you also don't want your overseas friends, relatives or customers to receive their gifts too early, so you need to find a happy medium. We'd recommend sending gifts to UK addresses by the 1st December. Unlike the Post Office, door-to-door couriers such as UPS and DHL don't tend to advertise cut-off dates for guaranteed Christmas delivery but since courier services tend to offer much reduced transit times, you should be fine if you stick to these dates. For deliveries further afield, you'd need to allow for more time. Our top tip? Visit our transit times page, enter your collection and delivery postcode into the appropriate transit times calculator and add two weeks to be extra safe!

How can I protect my Christmas gifts in transit?

As ever, careful packaging is the best way to ensure your parcels arrive in pristine condition: make sure you use a sturdy box, and don't over or under fill it; protect your gift by at least 5cm of cushioning all around, and if you have any further queries or if you are packaging an unusual gift and would like some advice, contact our customer services team who will be more than happy to assist you! 

How should I wrap my Christmas parcels? 

Careful packaging means your gifts should be placed within a cardboard box, and this outer packaging should not be covered in Christmas wrapping paper as this could mean your shipping label could be detached from your parcel. The good news is you can still wrap your presents as extravagantly as you like inside the shipping carton, just don't forget: cushioning is key!

How can I save money on Christmas post?

As well as offering shorter transit times and a convenient door-to-door service: shipping your Christmas gifts by courier could also be cheaper, especially for higher weights. Get a quote for Christmas parcel delivery here, or call us on 0845 145 1212.

Royal Mail warns Christmas season could be affected by CWU strike

The UK's Communications Workers Union has announced that it will hold a ballot for a full national postal strike if ongoing talks with the universal postal service are not concluded by the 20th September. The union is currently working to get a better deal than the "below-inflation" Royal Mail pay offer as well as protesting the proposed changes to the employee pension schemes and the effect of privatisation on postal workers' terms&conditions and job security.

If a solution is not reached in time, then 125,000 Royal Mail workers will be eligible to vote in a ballot on industrial action, the result of which should be released around 3rd October. If approved, the Union is required to give at least 7 days notice before going on strike, meaning the earliest possible strike date is around 10th October.

Along with the threat of a national strike, Royal Mail is also contending with multiple localised disputes, most recently in Plymouth. Royal Mail are reported to be "very disappointed" that a timeline has been issued for a national ballot and have warned that the proposed industrial action could threaten operations in the run up to the festive season. A statement issued by the organisation declared: “Any industrial action, or the possibility of disruption, is damaging to our customers, and our business, especially in the run up to our busiest time, Christmas.”

In the meantime, door-to-door couriers are also gearing up to the Christmas period.

Source: Post & Parcel