Getting a letter postmarked with sending date at T5?
 

I have to post something to the USA and it needs to be postmarked before December 31st inclusive.

At LHR today, then flying to CPH tonight, then flying to DUB on the 31st connecting to a flight to the USA.

I would have posted the letter in the USA on the 31st but our flight lands after last pickup time.

Denmark is closing its post office (!!), and we have four hours in DUB between flights.

So posting it today on Sunday 28th in London or at LHR seemed like the best option.

I have it already stamped with barcoded UK stamps and could drop it in a postbox but I’m not sure if barcoded letters actually get franked/postmarked with the date of posting to prove to the US recipient that it was posted before year end.

Advice?

I don't think you can guarantee an automatic sorting machine will frank the letter with date. The only certain way would be to give the letter to a friend and ask them to go to a post office and ask the staff to hand stamp it with the date.

According to the Post Office website, the counter inside WHSmith, landside at T5 departures (near south security) is open until 5pm today. Ditto T3.

Ask for a proof of sending. You may not get a legible franking date anyway.

Rather than rely on a postmark, which may or may not be visible, i would recommend you request proof of postage.

indeed, and it if is that important i would go landside and use signed for postage to ensure you have proof when and where it was posted regardless of how it get's processed afterwards.

Thank you for all these suggestions.

Is there a “post office” landside in T5? My searching implied that the WHSmith which functions as a post office was after security in departures.

yes, the one GumshoeW12 notes upthread. the post office is landside on the check in floor, inside the wh smith next to tfw.

Happily, I managed to do this and got a proof of posting receipt, with time and date. They also stamped the envelope with some sort of official LHR stamp which I hope will suffice if the recipient quibbles about this.

many thanks for all of your detailed info — I first went to the WHSmith near north security (thought that was the only one) and the cashier told me to walk further down for the post office on the left. Soon I came to a post box and my heart sank: had he misunderstood? Luckily, I was able to reread the comments on this thread and see that there was another WHSmith nearer South security which does have a post office. So disaster averted!

I've noticed a lot of the new stamps with the QR codes don't arrive franked so asking for a proof of posting receipt is definitely the safest way to go. Glad it all worked out!

The purpose of franking was to cancel the stamp to prevent its reuse. The cancellation is now done by scanning the code, so no franking required.

Back on topic, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that LHR has two post office counters that are both open all day on a Sunday.

A certificate of posting is free.

What was the somewhat official LHR stamp out of interest?

Upside down, but here’s a photo:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...80da29cd8.jpeg

That's the idea but it doesn't seem to work in practice as I've received letters with reused barcode stamps.