Shipping to an APO address in Alaska?

[Mom2Ben02]

Does anyone know - do retailers generally charge extra to ship to AK if it is a military address? I have to ship gifts to my niece and nephew, but I am hoping not to spend more to get it there than the gift is worth!

 

[dizluvah]

I believe that APO addresses are charged the same flat rate postage as continental US - no matter where they are....so whether the apo is actually going to Germany, Alaska, etc - should make no difference in the price.

That being said, I have had retailers who refuse to ship to APOs all together - I had to purchase 2 carseats from a retailer and take them to the post office myself for our military friends in Germany because the store would not ship to APO addresses at all, because the delivery signature is not when the item actually reaches the person purchasing - but is the signature of when the package arrives in the military's hands to be sent wherever the serviceperson is stationed - so there is no way for the shipper/retailer to prove the item arrived to the purchaser, in the event of a dispute.

 

[tasha99]

There are Alaska APO addresses? I would just send anything regular mail to a regular address if speed matters at all.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I would buy small-sized items and put them into the largest flat-rate box and mail it that way. Anytime you are shipping a non-flat rate box a long distance it seems like it costs a fortune. I sent my niece a birthday present from my home in Florida to her in Oregon - a small-sized box, not heavy, and it was about $15. I should have used a flat-rate box but forgot!

 

[KnightFarms]

An address with APO means that it will be filtered thru NY and your postage rates should reflect that.
Keep in mind a few things though:
1. Anything with military mail takes a lot longer, most cut off dates to get items to people by christmas are early in December.
2. Some retailers won't ship to APO's, but most will. You may have to call and actually speak to a person in order to ensure the address is correctly processed.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

An address with APO means that it will be filtered thru NY and your postage rates should reflect that.
Keep in mind a few things though:
1. Anything with military mail takes a lot longer, most cut off dates to get items to people by christmas are early in December.
2. Some retailers won't ship to APO's, but most will. You may have to call and actually speak to a person in order to ensure the address is correctly processed.

Not true. Depends on if its AP or AE etc. AE goes out of NY, but AP goes out of CA (I know because DH just moved from Italy to Korea and my postage went up a LOT).

I didn't think AK had APO boxes. I'll have to check into that since we're moving there in the next 6 months.

 

[natenapril]

We lived in Alaska for 7 years and never had an AP address. We lived on the Air Force Base close to North Pole. Shipping is more expensive but if the box is a reasonable size you will be fine.

 

[JB2K]

Does anyone know - do retailers generally charge extra to ship to AK if it is a military address? I have to ship gifts to my niece and nephew, but I am hoping not to spend more to get it there than the gift is worth!

The rate for an APO address in Alaska (Adak?) should be close to the same rate from your home location to Seattle (as that is where military mail to the remote sites in AK is collected).

 

[JB2K]

We lived in Alaska for 7 years and never had an AP address. We lived on the Air Force Base close to North Pole. Shipping is more expensive but if the box is a reasonable size you will be fine.

If you are stationed in either the Anchorage or Fairbanks areas, you will have a "normal" Alaska address/zip code, as mail distribution to those areas are handled directly by the USPS.

For those stationed at the remote sites, they use the same military mail that all overseas locations use (and carry the "APO AP" mailing address).

 

[JB2K]

Not true. Depends on if its AP or AE etc. AE goes out of NY, but AP goes out of CA (I know because DH just moved from Italy to Korea and my postage went up a LOT).

I didn't think AK had APO boxes. I'll have to check into that since we're moving there in the next 6 months.

Not exactly -- while it is common knowledge that Europe/Southwest Asia military mail goes through New York City and Asia/Pacific mail goes through San Francisco, there are a couple of rare exceptions:

Mail going to the remote sites within Alaska is all processed through Seattle, while all "APO AA" mail (Central/South America/Carribbean) is processed through Miami.

If you are moving to Elmendorf AFB/Ft. Richardson or Eielson AFB/Ft. Wainwright, you need not worry about using APO as you you will be served by a regular USPS mail carrier.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

Not exactly -- while it is common knowledge that Europe/Southwest Asia military mail goes through New York City and Asia/Pacific mail goes through San Francisco, there are a couple of rare exceptions:

Mail going to the remote sites within Alaska is all processed through Seattle, while all "APO AA" mail (Central/South America/Carribbean) is processed through Miami.

If you are moving to Elmendorf AFB/Ft. Richardson or Eielson AFB/Ft. Wainwright, you need not worry about using APO as you you will be served by a regular USPS mail carrier.

Awesome, thanks. Never realized there were remote bases in AK (but I'm not surprised). We're going to JBER so we'll have normal mail then. I'm so used to APO addy's and flat rate boxes I'm not really worried about the shipping stuff.

 

[AlwaysMoving]

If you are shipping to a military address be aware that some places make it mandatory to mail priority, causing the shipping price to increase. It never bothered me since I send everything priority anyway.

 

[KerryCM]

My daughter and her husband just moved to Alaska. They are stationed at Elmendorf/Richardson. I send their things regular mail.

 

[SandrA9810]

No matter where a package is going, there's no difference if it's to Alaska or Hawaii, it's still part of the United States.

A) parcel post - doesn't matter the distance as much as the size of the box. There's a slight balloon charge for any box over 12".
B) media mail - any kind of media, books, CD's, and the such qualify. It's cheaper than parcel, but subject to inspection. If you mark it as media and it isn't, you're responsible for the price difference before it's delivered.
C) priority mail - There's zones set up across the US, the greater the difference in zone numbers, the higher the price. There's also a significant surcharge in any package over 12".
D) priority flat rate - same price no matter the distance or weight.
E) priority same zone flat rate - these are medium and large priority flat rate boxes for anything being shipped within the same zone number (it's about half the cost of regular flat rate priority).

Every price is based on weight. More the weight, more the price.

Sorry... didn't read the part about it being a remote site in Alaska... that probably changes things.