Be Excellent To Each Other

Hello chums,

I was about to send my grandmother a postcard. I've been told to put a 2nd class stamp on it as postcards always go 2nd class as even if you pay for a 1st class service Royal Mail will never see them as urgent so they go 2nd class.

Previously I have been told to always use a 2nd class stamp as all postcards always go first class, because they are so small and light that they go 1st class in a 2nd class stamp.

Are either of these correct, or does the service all depend on the level of stamp (1st or 2nd) that you put on the postcard?

The stamp is the *minimum* service you get. So a 2nd class might end up going the equivalent of 1st class because of factors such as timing of sorting, passing on for delivery and so on. Once it is in the postal system, then the class of postage doesn't matter too much.

So, if I put a 1st class stamp in that has to be the minimum level of service? So they can't ignore my 1st class stamp and send it 2nd class because it's 'just a postcard'?

No.

Although if they did, you wouldn't know about it - First and Second class are often indistinguishable these days, I've found.

FedEx.

Fed Ex? I'm going to strap it to the back of a messenger pigeon, I think. Even better, I'll just use a CD pen to write directly on to the pigeon and send that