Since I’m fairly new all I can say is that of the overseas foreign countries I’ve sent to Germany gets my letters and postcards the fastest.
Japan, Austria, and China have taken the longest for me.
If you visit your ‘Sent’ page on the main PostCrossing website, there is a Stats option that will show you this info so as you send your cards you can keep track.
I’m still new too, but so far Finland and Germany get here the quickest. Usually 2-3 weeks.
Russia is the slowest to get here, and they always take at least 6-9 weeks, sometimes longer. One took 16 weeks.
French Guiana took 88 days, but hey - at least it made it. I’ve found that a good number of cards sent to less frequented countries tend to not fare as well insofar as being received.
I’m new to this as well, so far Germany has been the quickest, it only took around 15 days. Russia and china are taking longer, and are currently still in the mail past the 20 day mark, and they won’t arrive for a couple more weeks probably.
I pulled some screen shots of my stats for the months March through December of both 2019 and 2020 - checking for pandemic influences.
For me living in the UK - my heart sinks when I receive a name/address in Taiwan, China, Russia or Mexico. Last week a guy in Mexico told me cards can take in excess of 100 days to arrive. A week before that I received a chatty response to a card I sent to China - 120 days earlier! Even though they represent between 25 and 30% of all my correspondents - Germany comes out on top for speed of response.
Call me crazy, but I have come to enjoy the “long-haul” cards. I know they will take at least a month, so I try to pick sturdy cards, make the address as clear as possible, and dress them up nicely for the long journey ahead. I have had such lovely responses from the recipients; I think people may be especially grateful when they see that the card has been traveling a long time!
I started doing this as well!
For me being based in the Netherlands, the longest traveling cards are Australia, Brazil and China. They often take 50-60 days to reach their recipient. My mentality is: send them something that is worth the 2 months wait. So i take my time to choose a card that fits their wishes, write a thoughtful message and decorate it. So far, everyone has responded positively except for one. But that won’t deter me!
Exactly! I’ve even been known to take a deep breath and wish my cards good luck before dropping them in the mailbox.
I started postcrossing last September. I’ve been satisfied with receipt times—sometimes cards are received in Germany faster than in the USA! My question to more experienced postcrossers is this: suddenly none of my cards have been registered as received. Is this because of the holidays? Belarus is at 52 days, but even some of the “faster” countries have stalled at 20+ days. I’m ready and eager to write more cards!
See above. Mail volume has increased tremendously since (1) everyone is staying at home and (2) holiday mailings, may they be parcels or mail. And (3) reduced staffing due to Covid precautions.
I haven’t sent cards to Belarus in a while, but I have Czechia stalling at 50+ days. But they also have/had an acute Covid mess when I sent the card …
I’ll keep this nice and simple:
Russia
For cards sent from Canada, those travelling to China and Russia have taken an exceptional amount of time for travelling.
I’ve also reacted similarly like a prior user who responded earlier, knowing that those cards will be stuck in travel mode for quite some time.
Thanks for sharing
@PinkNoodle @cremebrulee it’s a labor of love!
I’m glad I found this thread. I am very new, and have a postcard that’s been travelling to Russia for 33 days. I guess I should relax and give it some more time. I’ve had 2 arrive in Germany quite quickly, but I’m also stunned at how long one is taking to arrive in California from South Carolina - 3 weeks and counting!
China and Russia seem to take the longest. Brazil, as well, although I rarely get a Brazilian address.
Today, someone registered a card I sent to China, after 144 days. I’m happy it finally arrived.
By far, the longest are China and Russia. My cards to China seem to get lost more often too. The fastest is Germany.
I’m not in the US, but I would imagine Canada would have similar travel times than the US. My longest-traveling cards are those headed to China, followed by Russia. Germany is extremely fast - my cards to Germany arrive faster than those to the US, contrary to what I had expected before joining Postcrossing. Yay for Germany!