The other day I noticed that I could purchase air mail service starting at 60 cents. This sounded like a good idea since df will be overseas in a few months. Is there much difference between airmail and regular when it comes to sending mail to a ship on deployment? Is it faster? Should I just stick with the regular 39 cent USPS service?

It will make no difference. The only thing faster mail will do is get the package to the ship taking it out faster. Other wise it will just sit there until it is time to go deliver it. I do not reccomend wasting the money to send it faster.

Since the mail goes to an FPO and is sent out to sea from there in huge crates on military planes, airmail would be a waste of money.

Thanks for the quick answers, ladies.

If you're sending to an FPO or APO, it will go to New York first, then that's when it will enter into the "Military Postal System," and goes on to it's destination separate from the regular postal system.

I've noticed that packages seem to go faster through the MPS, if they're insured and are sent priority. (Express is a waste of money, I think, because it's only Express until it gets to New York.)

Airmail would be good if you're sending someone a letter who doesn't have a military address and lives in Australia or any other country the mail would have to cross an ocean to get to. But if you're in the states, it's treated like regular mail. HTH, Sweetie.