The odds are pretty good that there will come a day when you won’t be home to accept a FedEx package. Maybe you’ll be away on vacation. Maybe you’ll be away on business. Or maybe a family emergency happens, or any myriad of other things that could cause you to be away from home for a couple of days. The last thing you want to worry about in these situations is whether or not your FedEx packages are going to still be there when you get back. We’ve all seen stories on the news about people losing their packages because they want home in time to get them before someone else spotted them. We also all heard horror stories about FedEx packages being left out in the wind and weather, getting ruined is because they want brought in ahead of a storm.
What are you supposed to do if you have FedEx packages coming in when you know you aren’t going to be home? Cross your fingers and hope for the best? No! Believe it or not, you can actually place a hold on all of your FedEx packages and stop them from being delivered when no one is home to accept them in the first place! Below we walk you through exactly how to protect your packages when you know you won’t be home by taking advantage of the FedEx vacation hold services available from this shipping company. Let’s dig right in.
Can You Setup a FedEx Vacation Hold on All Package Deliveries?
Absolutely! One of the biggest advantages of using FedEx is that you can always place a hold on your delivery – even on the day that it is scheduled for delivery – without a lot of headache and without a lot of hassle. Now, obviously, if your package is already delivered you aren’t going to be able to do much about having it held for you further. It’s already reached its ultimate destination and FedEx is no longer responsible for it. But right up until that moment (sometimes literally until your FedEx driver reaches your street) you should be able to place a hold on your package delivery, having FedEx hold it for you (on a temporary basis) when you know you aren’t going to be around to receive that package in the first place.
On top of that, you can also have your FedEx package rerouted to other stores or storage lockers for even more protection and easy accessibility for you later down the line. But that’s something that we get into in just a little bit. Just know that any FedEx package (with very few exceptions) are going to be able to be held with a vacation hold service from this shipping company.
Step By Step Guide for FedEx Vacation Holds
Best of all, actually initiating the FedEx vacation hold is super simple and straightforward. First, you’ll want to sign up for a FedEx Delivery Manager account by visiting the FedEx website or by downloading the mobile application to your phone or tablet. This account is 100% free of charge, available to anyone and everyone (even if this is your first time having something sent to you via FedEx), and provides you with a whole host of really cool tools and features you wouldn’t have had access to as a FedEx customer before.
The next step is going to be the FedEx Vacation Hold section of the Delivery Manager website or mobile application. You’ll be able to find this under the “Manage Delivery” section on your package, with each individual FedEx package listed within your Delivery Manager account by tracking information. Find the package (or packages) that you want to be held by FedEx, click the “Manage Delivery” option on those packages, and then click the “Vacation Hold” option. A menu is going to pop up from there, allowing you to select a range of dates that FedEx can hold your package until. Pick the one that makes the most sense for your schedule (FedEx packages can be held up for up to 14 days) and you’ll be good to go. A confirmation message will pop up on your screen, but you also get a confirmation message sent to your email address on your FedEx Delivery Manager account as well.
This gives you a little more security knowing that your packages are held and FedEx has received these instructions. As soon as the date that you have selected arrives, FedEx will attempt to deliver your package to your address again. If you need to hold the package a little longer you may be able to do so by contacting FedEx customer service directly. In those situations, they may hold the package for you at a local FedEx location. You’ll have to visit there (with identification) at your earliest convenience to actually pickup your package in those circumstances.
How Much Do FedEx Holds Cost?
One of the coolest things about the FedEx Vacation Hold service is that it is available 100% free of charge, without any strings attached whatsoever. Yes, you are reading that correctly! You are going to be able to place a vacation hold on all of your FedEx packages for up to 14 days without having to spend a single penny on this service. Vacation holds are available through the Delivery Manager platform from FedEx, also available completely and totally free of charge.
All you have to do is sign up, confirm your identity and your address (FedEx sends a postcard your way to take care of that), and you are off to the races! If you personally request that a package be held longer than 14 days (by contacting customer service directly and seeing if this is impossible in your specific situation) you may have to pay a little extra.
The same is true if you choose to have your package rerouted to a third-party storage locker or shipping locker. FedEx may drop off your package at those storage/shipping lockers, but they don’t have any say in whether or not those companies or services charge people to take advantage of their drop-off and collection facilities. For the overwhelming majority of people that use Vacation Hold from FedEx, though, you won’t have to spend any money to have this company temporarily hold onto your package for until you get back home.
How Long Will FedEx Holds Last?
As we just highlighted a moment ago, FedEx vacation holds are (generally) going to be able to be extended out to 14 days from the original delivery day. In some (rare) circumstances you may be able to contact FedEx directly and have them extend your vacation hold for another 14 days. That’s something that you are going to have to discuss expressly with the FedEx customer service department, though.
This isn’t something that’s available to just anyone and everyone, and there’s no way to automatically extend your 14 day vacation hold within the FedEx Delivery Manager platform. Try as hard as you can to find a delivery day within that 14 day window of time that makes sense for you. If you know that you still aren’t going to be able to get back in time to get your package, consider having it rerouted to a friend, family member, or neighbor that you trust with your package inside of that 14 day window of time. It may not be the best option, but it is certainly better than having your package dropped off and left on your front step four who knows who to spot it and to be left out in the wind and weather.
How Do I Get My Packages When the Hold Finishes?
The beautiful thing about the Vacation Hold service from FedEx is that it is 100% automated and 100% automatic after you initiate this hold on your side of things. The moment that you confirm that you in fact wish to have your package held for up to 14 days through the Delivery Manager application or dashboard online FedEx updates your package status. As soon it is scanned internally it’s going to be delayed and held until the date that you have selected. At that point in time, it’s going to be “reactivated” and it’s going to go out for delivery just like any other FedEx package.
Like we have mentioned a handful of times already, though, there is the potential to have your package held at a local FedEx facility, storage locker, or third-party facility for longer than the 14 day block of time FedEx does as a standard service. A lot of that is going to be up to the specifics of the FedEx facilities in your area, third-party organizations that are willing to hold packages for FedEx customers, and the story/shipping locker facilities that you are thinking about taking advantage of.
In those circumstances (when you have a FedEx package rerouted or you have a FedEx package held at a shipping locker) you’re going to actually have to go and pick up your package in person when you have a chance. Make sure to bring identification and your tracking information. You’ll need to prove that you are the person the package was intended for (or an authorized agent as outlined in the FedEx Delivery Manager platform).
Can I Have My FedEx Packages Rerouted?
You sure can! FedEx Delivery Manager gives individuals the opportunity to have their package rerouted to different locations when they know they aren’t going to be around to pick up or accept for their package on its day of delivery.
FedEx lets you reroute deliveries to:
- Street addresses in the same town or city
- FedEx locations within that same town or city (or general area)
- Third-party companies affiliated with FedEx (Walgreens and Dollar General, for example)
- Third-party storage and shipping locker organization
You’ll need to take advantage of the rerouting tools in the Delivery Manager dashboard to make these kind of arrangements, though. You can also jump on the phone and contact FedEx customer service directly to asked them to handle your reroute for you.
Rerouting directions are going to update instantly across the FedEx backend, alerting the FedEx delivery drivers to either hold or change the delivery address for your FedEx packages. It’s a good idea to make this kind of change as early as possible. Once your packages out for delivery rerouting it can be a bit of a hassle.
What If My FedEx Hold Doesn’t Work?
If the Delivery Manager system from FedEx isn’t letting you place a Vacation Hold onto your package it may be because that type of package is ineligible for those kinds of services. Express and overnight delivery services from FedEx are not going to be eligible for a Vacation Hold, and a lot of other premium or time sensitive FedEx delivery services are excluded from this type of option as well.
The overwhelming majority of FedEx Express and FedEx Ground packages are going to be eligible for Vacation Holds, though. If your packages being delivered through those kinds of services you should be good to go.
Manage All of Your Packages with US Global Mail
At the end of the day, if you no longer want to worry about whether or not you’ll be home to accept your packages in the future you might want to get yourself a US Global Mail account and automate the whole process completely. As a virtual mailbox customer, you’ll be able to have all of your package (and all of your mail) sent to a permanent street address or your account.
Those packages, parcels, and envelopes will be digitally scanned the moment that they arrive (with instant notifications sent to you as well) and will be held for you in a secure location until you want them to be forwarded on to any address on the planet (up to 80% off of standard shipping costs). Of course, there are other benefits available to US Global Mail customers. Learn more about those benefits by contacting the company directly or visiting their website today!
