A interesting thing: There isn’t airmail sticker in PRChina too though we have both services of surface mail and airmail. The only thing we should do is to put stamps with different values on cards which we want to be sent by different ways. The post office will stamp them with different seal with the words of “Surface” or “Par Avion”. We can buy airmail stickers in bookstores, though. However there is no need to use the stickers, because once I sent a card with my airmail sticker, and the post office still stamped it with a seal.
By the way, can USPS send mails to Canada or Mexico by trains? After all It can’t do it when sending to other countries…
If it’s carried by a pigeon, isn’t it sent by air?
I use the blue priority stickers on all mail that’s not within Germany. I think in some cases there’s no difference, but in some countries there is, and since I’m too lazy to research the issue and make a list of postal systems around the world… I just put the sticker. In any case, it doesn’t hurt.
But the USPS DOES INDEED have a number of International priority mail options that apply even to a postcard or mail that qualifies as first class letter size and weight. The prices are astronomical, beginning at around $30 USD. Not sure if the average Postcrosser could afford that for every postcard. See:
Given that Priority International Mail is a ‘thing’ in the US, it’s probably illegal to slap your own consumer label on a postcard that says 'PRIORITY MAIL", right?
Some countries, like mine South Africa, offer cheaper shipping options like SEA/SURFACE mail which travel by ship and does take longer but this is due to the cheaper postage. Unless the country doesn’t accept surface mail then it’s automatically sent by airmail but international mail is generally sent by air by default
I don’t know for sure, but I would be surprised if the USPS uses rail very much. In the US, transportation by truck is much more common than by rail. Our rail system is very poor and it is used mostly for raw materials (coal, timber, etc.) When it is used for consumer goods, it is usually freight containers from ships coming from China and going to Walmart or Amazon distribution centers. The USPS has a huge fleet of trucks, though.
I understand that some mail was sent to Europe by ship a while ago because USPS was having trouble with flights. Also, some long-domestic mail has been going surface as well, which normally might have been flown (at least partway).
I don’t think a surface mail rate (within North America) would be very popular. Nor do we have the infrastructure for it as in China or Europe. Most people would prefer to pay slightly more to get the item there faster.
In the UK we have two classes of international mail: International Standard and International Economy. It used to be that the former reached its destination by air, while the latter went by boat. I’ve no idea whether that’s still the case, but there are significant differences in expected delivery times. For example, mail sent to Australia by International Standard should arrive with 7 working days, whereas Economy takes 12 weeks.
Applying an airmail sticker, official or otherwise, doesn’t seem to make any difference though. You simply get the service you’ve paid for.
Also, at the moment, I’m not noticing much difference in delivery speed between the two services for long distance destinations.
But, I still stamp “airmail” on my International Standard mail if there’s space, just because it’s a nice decoration.
I said “regular” letter size international letter, i.e., a simple first class letter, or postcard. I wasn’t speaking about international priority or express mail which is a separate case altogether. Yes, you could indeed mail an international postcard with more expensive options, but it would cost tens of times more than the $1.40 required for sending a regular, first class international postcard. And I said nothing about slapping an “illegal” “Priority Mail” label on a postcard. You CAN however stick an air mail label on an international postcard, because it’s traveling by air, anyway. (By the way, I’m willing to bet that some Postcrossers do, in fact, place airmail stickers on their postcards).
Yeah, I was just responding to @Arhel 's recommendation to use a 'PRIORITY" mail sticker. I don’t think this would be legal in the US without actually paying for the Priority Mail Service at the ridiculous price of $29.60 USD per postcard (or $67.80 for 1-3 day delivery)
And yes, MANY Postcrossers do indeed add an airmail sticker to their postcards. And some even REQUEST via their profiles that I do the same. This is what sparked my question in the first place: Is there any point to this, for someone sending mail from the US where ALL mail is airmail?
The answers I received are all over the map, but my conclusion is that no, there is absolutely no point for a US sender to spend time and money to find and purchase airmail stickers and add them to the postcard other than for its decorative or nostalgic value.
I think some people request it just for the interest as well. They see them as another collector item or thing of interest on the card.
I have sporadically found them in Canada but most post offices do not have or use them. One postmaster told me it does speed up delivery but I have not noticed a difference when I use them or not. I think it may help the card/envelope stand out more when being sorted but I think all overseas mail goes by air anyways (in normal times).
As I said, the USPS doesn’t have them any longrer, and these were less expensive than anything I could find on Amazon or eBay. I think they look pretty cool. I also like the color. I hope this makes everybody happy!
You’re right. If US post doesn’t need ‘air mail’ or ‘priority’ labels, you don’t need to use them. Even someone asks you to do so in their profile. In Finland we have different stamps for national and foreign mail. Or we can use national stamps as long as stamps have correct value together. Priority sticker makes sure that mail goes in faster delivery and that label is included in foreign stamps sheets or we can ask normal blue ones for other stamps.
Mail from Europe can be delivered to USA by ships - hence in plenty of countries you have this option to buy a cheaper - economy stamp (mail to be delivered within 3 weeks) and a priority stamp (mail carried by planes within 7 working days).
I was looking to understand how Airmail stickers effectively work. I found the following useful for those who use Germany’s postal services aka Deutsche Post https://youtu.be/IWYU02ytLMQ?si=gN_mEyJ01VEPWhM-
Edit: To buy the roll of Luftpost/Airmail stickers that are way cheaper at Deutsche Post website than elsewhere, it is convenient to buy stamps + sticker roll worth 20 Euro and save additional delivery costs.
