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I am sending a postcard from a large US city to a large city in Germany via the cheapest shipping option.

How long should the letter take to arrive? I have read 5 to 10 business days in one place and 10 to 12 business days in another place. Is there a definitive answer? It is hard to find this information on the USPS website.

(Note: you can use this calculator for the reverse trip: https://www.portokalkulator.de/portokalkulator/std)

Kevin Burke
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2 Answers2

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Since 2007, I received 53 postcards from the US (via postcrossing). I live in Germany, so this is relevant to your question. The average travel time was 11 days, roughly 67% arrived within this time frame. The minimum was 3 days, the maximum 61.

Of course, these are not 100% exact numbers - the "send" date is the day the sender got my address, not necessarily the day he mailed the card, and the "received" date is the day I registered the card, not necessarily the day it reached my mailbox.

Still, all those numbers will always be only estimates, and every single postcard can arrive late. In 2016, I mailed three postcards from Scotland to Germany. The first card arrived after about one week, the second one after two weeks, the third one after three weeks. Since I dropped them all into the SAME mailbox at the very same time, I have no clue why the travel time differed so much...

Sabine
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Of the 20 postcards I have sent through post crossing to Germany, on average it takes 19 days for them to get there. Of the 5 postcards I have received from Germany it has taken, on average, 53 days. I don't know why there is such a big difference.

Daniil
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Solomon
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