I have noticed that since I started printing all addresses through Postcrossing instead of handwriting the addresses, I have less expired postcards. I have neat handwriting, so that wasn’t the issue. I also started including the Chinese address if given and cards to China do arrive at a higher rate than before. I think that in general, postcards are given a lower priority but a printed address helps.
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Super helpful - thanks for sharing, there are a few tweaks I need to make based on this! I am a comma girl, but I also learned to write addresses in the 70s so gee I guess it’s changed since then 
Thank you!
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Less sense than squirrels at a rave … new favorite saying 
🩷
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I’ve changed the title of this topic to indicate that the issue is about postcards from Austria to the USA specifically — I hope that makes it more clear.
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Yay that’s my card! 
When I put 210 cents on the cards and a priority sticker, the cards arrive very fast in the US. When I only put 190 cents on the card and without priority sticker, they are not delivered at all. I started sending them as priority in January and ALL OF THEM arrived.
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Stevyy, why you think I don’t realize an important factor? The level of importance of that factor is not same to all, don’t you agree? If you need to take to the mail office, then do so. Some do so already, like maybe @Robin67 (unless you get the special postmark just by leaving it to the box)?
In my eyes the most important factors are: some want to send cards faster, they want the recipients to get their cards before expired, they don’t care if it’s USA, they don’t care if they pay 0,20€ more or go to post office.
But ok, so stamps can be used. That’s great isn’t it? Shouldn’t the info be updated? Especially the part that priority mail to USA if much quicker than economy. And yes, maybe the envelope helps too.
And those who can’t go to mail office, perhaps they still like to put it the box, and “gamble” if it’s detected with the priority label. Not much to lose, but much to win. Or maybe send the stamped cards to post office, where they open it and postmark the cards, if there is such service.
Also as sometimes it’s told (in another thread) Chinese shouldn’t use surface mail because of it’s slowness, maybe Austrians should avoid, if they can, using economy to USA likewise.
(Idea to correct the info there Prices of stamps etc., maybe also put it to German language forum? Someone with better wording could correct it there:
Attention: to USA, priority option seems to be much quicker while economy seems to be very slow (priority about two weeks vs economy over 100 days).
To other countries economy still seems to be a quick choice. (?)
Priority should be sent from the post office. You can use stamps, and the sending must have a priority label (you can print that or get from (some) post office(s)). If you drop it to the mail box on the street, it is not necessarily noticed and can be treated as economy mail.)
Great, and I see you didn’t use the “official” Austrian priority label even, and it worked.
Did you take your mail to post office?
The liberty of sending an AT-card-with-stamps via mailbox to have it registered in US in reasonable time is broken. Sorry for sounding harsh, but in such an annoying situation I* don’t need alternatives, I need a place to vent, and maybe empathy.
So again my apologies for downplaying the problem when it occured first in autumn, but not sorry for calling what it is: curseword.
Due to various input other users now have precious info about an alternative (more expensive, more complicated) - so thank you to all involved.
* funny detail, personally I’m not affected by the necessary post-office-visit at all, because I can bring my cards directly to the sorting centre. Still that does not change my anger about a system not working anymore as it should be.
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@S_Tuulia I take my snailmail to a special philately shop for special postmarks.
Soon I’ll meet a Postcrossing friend from another country and she’ll mail my snailmail to the USA at (her) home (country).
So that is my solution for now. 
Right now 11 out of 22 expired cards are travelling tooooooo… you guessed it: the USA! 
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I think everyone empathise with you, this situations when mail turns to worse. My apologies I don’t know how to show it. My way to show it maybe, is to find solution, I’m sorry (if) you don’t like it. I could take the cursewords, if you were here, and listen you vent. (Such messages were flagged and removed from China mail thread, so I don’t want this to turn same way.)
And as there are members to whom the expired affects to the joy of postcrossing, maybe they will be at least a bit happy, to know they can use stamps, and their mail to USA can be quicker too.
I was told I’m wasting my time trying to help here, as they (some Austrian members) just don’t want to send to USA at all because it’s more expensive than Europe (not just the 0,20€). Maybe. And they won’t turn off the repeated, because they want to get many German addresses, which are cheaper option. It could appear so a little, I admit, still not necessarily true. But I’ve read similar about other countries earlier. (Maybe this was what @Robin67 wanted to write? I have written it elsewhere too, and I don’t see it’s a reason to flag, it’s a possibility, and maybe only imagining doing so, will help deal with the frustration) And I believe most like to send cards no matter where it goes
Can you leave your mails to the philately shop? Or you need to take it to post office from there?
(I’m so envious of such shops and having special postmarks!)
I take my snailmail to the philately shop, ask for the postmarks I’d like on certain cards/letters, of the postmarks that are available at the time, watch the nice ladies/gentleman applying those postmarks and then my mail starts travelling.
If I don’t buy my stamps at philately days, I also buy them right there.
It is usually my highlight of the week (sad, I know! ).
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I have repeated countries off but had at times 5 out of 10 cards travelling to the USA, which I normally wouldn’t mind too much. But if half your cards are going to expire, it’s just beyond frustrating. Most of my cards still stay within Europe, so I don’t need repeated countries for the lower postage.
It’s just not okay that economy cards to the USA never make it to their recipient. I paid 1.90€ for that stamp. I don’t mind if it takes a bit longer, but 4 months and counting is just insane. That’s not reasonable.
Now I’m privileged because I have a post office within walking distance, I just need to take half an hour out of my day to send mail from there. But many villages don’t even have a post office anymore, so people have to get in their car and drive to the next village over. The rural post offices are only open Monday to Friday, often with long lunch breaks in between, making it almost inaccessible for many working people. Or people who are less mobile or just don’t own a car. Pretty much every village, no matter how tiny, has at least one public mailbox however, which is “open” 24/7. That’s far more accessible.
So it’s not just people being unwilling to pay the 20 Cents extra or being annoyed by the detour to the post office, this change might actually make it very hard, if not next to impossible, for some people to send cards to the USA.
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I imagine that while in theory Austrian economy letters could be transported to the U.S. via surface mail, what’s more likely is that they simply wait until there’s air freight available to the U.S. at an agreeable price point.
In old-school terms, priority vs economy would essentially be airmail vs air-speeded mail.
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Certainly I understand this. I also mention it, and wrote suggestions for those situations, hopefully someone can tell what is the best option.
But just because someone doesn’t have a car, or some can’t go to mail office, these are not good reasons to “hide” the information that the priority seems much more reliable and also quick.
I understood for some the annoyance was also the big difference between EU vs USA, that it’s 0,70€ more expensive to send to USA to begin with, and they wish to have an option not to send there at all. I’m not accusing anyone of this, I have seen similar complaints from other countries and of course it’s not fun to pay more 
(and even 0,20€ more, to get the priority).
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That doesn’t sound too bad: in the U.S., currently it’s $0.53 to send a domestic postcard vs $1.55 for an international postcard. 
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I know. We have 2,30€ for economy, 2,50€ priority.
(2,30€ to Finland too.) So my cheapest option is always the 2,30€.
(But if one is used to the cheaper postage, I do understand it doesn’t help that some pay always more and I’m not understating their annoyance.)
Still, each time one draws an address, they should accept it might be the one that needs more postage. I think it’s not nice for USAn members to read how others dread to draw an address there.
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the postage rate is absolutely OK, as these are the rules.
AT economy postage: within AT €0.95, Europe €1,20, ROW €1,90 - therefore China, Taiwan, Australia, Canada,… all need the €1,90 stamp
I dread US addresses, as these will not arrive, while the other destinations do nicely deliver my cards.
To me it is not nice to know, that economy does not work, when sending to the US, everywhere else it does.
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Does anyone know the routing procedure Austria Post uses for Economy mail to the U.S.? As far as I know both Priority and Economy cards and letters from Austria should all come in at the exchange office in New York City and are handled as first class here. With all the problems with USPS in general there yet does not seem to be any complaints about Economy cards from other countries, and Austrian Priority appears to be delivered. I am wondering if the fault lies with whatever contractor Austria Post has hired to handle the U.S. bound Economy Mail. I am sure they may be using different ones for different destinations. Please tell me if any of this makes sense as it is only a theory.
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It could be worse. In the UK, we have to pay £2.20 ($2.79) wherever we are sending it! (And I’ve also got 5 cards travelling to the US the moment and not convinced they’ll arrive).
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