Yes, with limits: on Thursday, December 24, 2026, UPS delivers on all services, offers no Ground pickup and lists The UPS Store as open. So is UPS open on Christmas Eve? Yes for deliveries and drop offs, no for Ground collection.
Christmas Eve is not a federal holiday, so UPS treats it as a modified day instead of a closure. The real shutdown comes the next day, December 25.
The next Christmas Eve after that falls on Friday, December 24, 2027. This page covers what is open, what is closed and what to do if you have a package to hand over.
Is UPS open on Christmas Eve 2026?
UPS lists December 24, 2026 as a working day with changes. Delivery is available on all services, and The UPS Store is shown as open. The one clear restriction is pickup: UPS offers Air and international Air pickup only if you arranged it by December 18, 2026, and it offers no Ground pickup at all.
That split is what trips people up. A driver may still bring your package, but nobody will come to collect a Ground box from your porch or office. If you need Ground service, you have to take the package to a location yourself.
UPS also notes that Express Critical is available on Christmas Eve at 1-800-714-8779. That is a premium service for urgent, time critical freight, not a general help line.
What is open and closed on December 24, 2026
| Service | Thursday, December 24, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Package delivery | All services available, per the UPS holiday schedule |
| Air and international Air pickup | Only if prearranged by December 18, 2026 |
| Ground pickup | Not available |
| The UPS Store | Listed as open, hours vary by location |
| Express Critical | Available at 1-800-714-8779 |
The UPS operations summary describes the day as limited domestic and Air delivery. Read it as a reduced service day, not a normal weekday, and one more answer to is UPS open on Christmas Eve. Local volume and staffing decide how much actually moves.
Is UPS closed on Christmas Eve for pickups?
For Ground, yes. UPS states there is no Ground pickup on December 24, 2026. If you have a standing daily pickup, plan on the driver not collecting Ground items that day.
Air and international Air pickups are possible, but only when you set them up ahead of time. The cutoff for Christmas Eve 2026 was December 18. A request made on December 23 or 24 is not covered by that arrangement.
The practical fix is simple. Move Ground shipments to December 23 or earlier, or drop them off in person. Check the Postal Holiday Checker to compare how other carriers treat the same days.
The UPS Store and drop off on Christmas Eve
The UPS holiday page says The UPS Store locations are open on December 24, 2026. The same page says stores may be closed on Christmas Day. That means Christmas Eve is generally a good day to drop a package at the counter, but hours are not uniform.
The UPS Store locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees, so each store sets its own hours. Some may keep shorter hours that day. Call before you go, and read our guide on whether the UPS Store is open today for how to check a specific location.
A package you hand over at a store is not the same as a package picked up from your door. Once it is in the system, it moves on the normal UPS network. Do not expect same day movement on December 24, because Ground pickup is off and the network is thin.
Is UPS closed on Christmas Eve for walk in customers?
Is UPS closed on Christmas Eve at the counter? Not according to the schedule, which lists The UPS Store as open on December 24, 2026. It warns that stores may be closed on December 25, and the word “may” matters, because individual owners choose their own hours.
A quick call settles it. Ask whether the store accepts Ground drop offs that afternoon and what time it closes.
Three common situations
- You have a Ground package at home: carry it to a UPS location by December 24, or plan to ship on December 23.
- You set up an Air pickup before December 18: the driver can still collect it on December 24.
- You are waiting on a delivery: all services are listed as available, though timing can run later than usual.
Customer service and online tools
UPS does not publish general customer service hours for December 24. The only phone number tied to the day is the Express Critical line. For routine questions, tracking on ups.com still works, and you can use the Delivery Time Estimator to judge whether a package will arrive before December 25.
Online tracking updates as scans happen. Expect fewer scans than usual, since Ground pickup is off and many facilities run reduced shifts. A quiet tracking page on December 24 does not by itself mean your package is lost.
How the days around Christmas Eve look
| Date | UPS pickup and delivery | The UPS Store |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, December 23, 2026 | No holiday restriction listed | No holiday restriction listed |
| Thursday, December 24, 2026 | Delivery on all services; Air pickup only if prearranged; no Ground pickup | Open |
| Friday, December 25, 2026 | No UPS pickup or delivery | May be closed |
| Saturday, December 26, 2026 | No holiday restriction listed | No holiday restriction listed |
| Thursday, December 31, 2026 | Air and international Air delivery; no Ground delivery | Not listed; check locally |
The schedule page lists no special restrictions for December 23 and 26, so those days follow the normal weekly schedule, which you can compare in our UPS holiday schedule guide. Saturday is a regular UPS pickup and delivery day, and Sunday is not.
Our guide to UPS on weekends explains how that works.
Is UPS open on Christmas Eve 2027?
December 24, 2027 is a Friday, and it is also the day federal offices observe Christmas, because December 25, 2027 is a Saturday. The UPS schedule page already carries a line for that date noting limited pickup, but the full 2027 holiday schedule has not been released, so treat the details as unconfirmed until UPS posts it.
Check the UPS holiday schedule in the fall of 2027 for the final pickup deadlines. The Air pickup prearrangement date for 2027 is not published.
What to do if you have a package to ship
- Ship Ground packages by December 23, 2026, or take them to a UPS location on December 24.
- Arrange any Air pickup by December 18, 2026, because later requests are not covered for December 24.
- Call your local store before you drive there, since hours vary.
- Track the package on ups.com and expect fewer scans than on a normal day.
If your question is about a package arriving at your door, that is a separate topic. We cover it in Does UPS deliver on Christmas Eve.
For the next day, see will UPS deliver on Christmas.
Why Christmas Eve service is limited
Christmas Eve sits between peak holiday volume and a full shutdown. UPS keeps delivery moving to clear packages before December 25. It pulls back on pickup, which needs a driver to visit each address.
That is why Air pickup survives only by prearrangement and Ground pickup does not run. If a package misses the window, it waits for the next normal day. In 2026 that day is Saturday, December 26, since the schedule lists no restriction for it.
Bottom line on Christmas Eve at UPS
UPS works on December 24, 2026 with reduced service, and Ground pickup is off. Plan Ground shipments for December 23 or earlier. Everything stops on Christmas Day.