Best Way to Protect Packages While You're Away for Holidays
Pause each carrier, watch arrivals remotely, and line up pickup or a neighbor so gifts wait inside.
The strongest protection is to set a hold or pickup plan with every carrier that may deliver while you are away, plus a trusted person as backup. One hold alone leaves gaps because other carriers can still leave boxes at the door. Holiday travel often brings surprise gifts, refills, and late orders.
A short setup before you leave keeps those parcels stored or redirected instead of waiting on a porch.
Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on November 05, 2026.
How do you pause U.S. mail?
U.S. mail includes letters, catalogs, and USPS packages, and all of them can signal an empty house. According to the U.S.
Postal Service in its Hold Mail details, USPS Hold Mail is free and pauses delivery for 3–30 days while items stay at the local Post Office. You can request it up to 30 days in advance or by early morning on the start date. Pick a start date that covers your departure and an end date after you return.
How do you cover FedEx and UPS?
A USPS hold does not stop FedEx or UPS, so travelers need separate plans for each carrier used. According to FedEx in its Vacation Hold explanation, its free Delivery Manager Vacation Hold suspends expedited and standard deliveries to a residential address for a chosen date range up to 14 days. For UPS, My Choice members can have packages held free for pickup, according to UPS in its My Choice information.
The limit is up to seven calendar days at The UPS Store or UPS Access Point locations, and up to five business days at Customer Centers.
- List every store or sender that may ship while you are gone.
- Set the matching USPS, FedEx, and UPS holds or pickup redirections.
- Name a trusted friend, neighbor, or workplace as backup for anything that slips through.
How can you watch deliveries from afar?
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service advises never leaving mail or packages unattended in mailboxes or on porches. It points travelers toward USPS Hold Mail or Hold for Pickup when away.
City of Spokane Police prevention guidance adds practical layers: use tracking and delivery alerts, require signatures, ship to a trusted friend or office, ask carriers to hold packages for pickup, and use an anchored secure drop box. Those steps help when a sender ships without warning. USPS Informed Delivery is a free service that sends a morning Daily Digest email with images of incoming mail plus incoming and outbound package status.
A traveler can use it to spot an expected parcel and ask a helper or carrier to retrieve it.
What if something must arrive while you are gone?
Delay delivery when possible, and redirect when delay is not possible. A trusted person who can collect boxes promptly, a workplace address, or carrier pickup keeps items indoors. For Amazon orders, Prime members with a myQ-connected garage can use Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery.
Chamberlain Group explains that drivers receive one-time verified access to place packages and groceries inside the garage whether the resident is home or away. Each hold covers only that carrier, so check every carrier before you lock the door. Travelers who set all holds plus a person-based backup avoid the common gap where one paused service still leaves another carrier's box outside.