DENVER, CO — With the big “Super Bowl of Love” Day, Valentine’s Day, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, fast approaching, the U.S. Postal Service reminds Americans of the 2010 Valentine mailing deadlines below.

According to Hallmark Cards, Valentine's Day is the second busiest time of the year for giving and mailing greeting cards. (Christmas is first.) Besides the U.S., Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Denmark and Australia.

Americans will share and send over 150 million Valentine greeting cards and packages this year. Over half of those love letters and most of those Valentine care packages will go by mail. Post Offices handle 5-7 percent more greeting cards and small packages the week before Valentine’s Day compared to most other weeks of the year.

The Postal Service wants to help make it convenient and less expensive for all you love birds/mailers, while still showing your loved ones that you are First-Class. Besides offering the King And Queen of Hearts Love Stamp and other colorful stamps for your Valentine cards, many Post Offices have free Priority Mail Flat-Rate Boxes to mail your Valentine candies or gift, up to 70 lbs., at one-very low flat rate to anywhere in the country.

Many larger city Post Offices also have self-serve Automated Postal Center (APC) lobby units to mail those packages after hours. You can find hours of your Post Office, APC locations, shipping rates and other mailing information by calling 1-800-275-8777 (1-800-ASK-USPS), or go to www.usps.com.

2010 Valentine mailing instructions and deadlines:

Valentine envelopes should each have 44-cents postage. Postcards should have 28-cents postage. Add extra stamps for heavier/odd shaped and square valentines. The regular mail deadline for mailing to our troops stationed overseas and to most international destinations has passed, but First Class and Express Mail is still available to certain nearby overseas countries.

- In the U.S., the sweetheart deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 9, for mailing love cards, letters and packages out of state using regular mail service.

• The heart-felt deadline is Thursday, Feb. 11, for mailing cards and packages in-state.
• If you’re a last-minute love procrastinator, there is always Express Mail, which is more costly. Express Mail is still good for mailing with 1-2 days delivery, and with delivery on Valentine’s Day to major cities only.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.