Christmas cards don’t seem to be going out of style. Millions of sent Christmas cards serve as proof for the popularity of traditional cards over digital messages. The most important reason to send Christmas cards is to make the recipient happy. In October, Posti and IRO Research asked 1,000 Finns for their opinion on how important cards are as a form of holiday greeting. According to the survey, people want to make others happy, maintain Christmas traditions and act reciprocally – if somebody had sent them a card before, they wanted to return the gesture.

Even though Christmas is still some time away, it’s a good idea to send Christmas cards well in advance. For example, cards you want to send outside Europe must be mailed already at the end of November.

If you want to send Christmas mail with the more affordable Christmas no-value indicator stamp (EUR 1.05), the last mailing date is Wednesday, December 12.Christmas cards sent after this date will reach their recipient in time before the holidays if they are mailed with the domestic no-value indicator stamp (EUR 1.50) by Wednesday, December 19 before the letterboxes are emptied.

For example, Priority letters to the United States and Canada should be sent by Sunday, December 9, and Priority letters to Europe should be mailed by Friday, December 14.

Domestic parcels will reach their recipients by Christmas if they are mailed by December 19 through a parcel locker or by paying the postage fee in advance either online or through the OmaPosti application. You can leave a pre-paid parcel in any Parcel Locker or Posti outlet. Parcels should be brought to Posti outlets one day earlier, by December 18. Parcels to outside Europe must be mailed by December 7, to Europe by December 14, and to nearby countries, including Sweden and the Baltic countries, by December 17.

The last mailing days for different countries and tips for Christmas preparations can be reviewed at www.posti.fi/joulu.

The correct address ensures that the item has a smooth journey to its recipient

In October, Posti and IRO Research asked 1,000 Finns for their opinion on how important cards are as a form of holiday greeting. The respondents were also asked how they check the addresses. A paper address book remains a popular source for addresses: as many as 75 percent of all Finns use one. Of all respondents, 29 percent used the address service to find addresses.

“It was interesting that one third of all female respondents turned to their mother or other people close to them when they needed address information. According to earlier surveys, many people send Christmas cards to their relatives, so perhaps their mother serves as a link to the rest of the family during the holidays,” says Johanna Rouhe, Product Manager at Posti.

The address must be correct and clearly written to ensure a smooth delivery for the item. You can check postal codes in the postal code search tool on Posti’s website.

To ensure that parcels are delivered quickly and securely, make sure that they contain the names of the sender and the recipient as well as their addresses and their telephone numbers. The telephone number allows the notice of arrival to be sent conveniently by SMS.

When sending Christmas greetings, keep in mind that you should not send money with a regular letter. Cash and similar valuable contents should always be sent as insured items, which means that they will be processed separately from the other mail.

“If you want to send a small amount of money as a gift, it’s easier to send the money directly to their account and mention this on a greeting card,” Rouhe notes.

More information on the survey:

The survey The status of Christmas cards as a form of Finnish Christmas greeting 2018 involved information gathering online through the national online consumer panel provided by IRO Research. A total of one thousand interviews were conducted over the period September 28–October 4, 2018. The sample is selected based on age, gender, type of place of residence and county of residence to be representative of the population of Finns at the national level. The survey’s statistical margin of error is approximately +3.2 percentage points at most.