mail forwarding

My wife and I are going to try our hand at "snow birding" this winter in Kings Bay, GA. We plan on having mail forwarded to this location for the 3 months. What I would like to hear is any horror stories, tips, procedures, (do magazines get sent? ), and anything else that applies to getting the mail.

Depends on who is forwarding your mail.
U.S. Post Office only forwards 1st Class Mail. No Mags, No Second Class (Note that almost ALL rebate checks are sent 2nd class, found out the hard way).
If you have a mail forwarding service, most will forward what you want them to foward and you pay in bulk for each mailing.
It seems that you can receive mail at most Air Force bases "Fam Camps". Army you have to have mail sent General Delivery at an "Off Post" Post Office. Navy bases do take General Delivery at the base Post Office.
These are just the one's I have seen. It is best to let your fingers do the walking and talk to each base or location and ask them what their rules are.
Also, be sure that you give yourself plenty of time to receive your mail before you leave the area. I have had "Priority Mail" take as long as 10 days to get. The post office just said "nothing we can do, some times it just takes longer to get here".
Frank

If you're receiving meds from the VA, be careful about giving them a new address. They may (without asking you to confirm) assume you've 'moved', pack up your records, and ship them to the VA closest to the temporary address you're using. It happened to me. It took months to get it all sorted out and as a result we now have two mail-forwarding services - we use the Escapees for most stuff, but for official stuff like VA, driver lic., and vehicle registration we use a mail forwarding service in our home state.

Check out Snowbirdmail.com. Efficient, personalized service. We're very happy with them.

I have tried most all of the methods for getting mail while on the road. Probably one of the more important factors in making your choice is how often you need to get your mail. The longer that time frame is the more options you have. If only once or twice a month, then I forward it to a relative and have them package and send it out. One convenience of this is they can watch for something in particular that I might need or open a piece of mail if that’s in question. If I need it more often and there isn’t anything important to be received, then one of the RV mail forwarding services it fine.

If I want absolute piece of mind and once a week delivery, then I pay for USPS premium mail forwarding and have it sent general delivery post office to post office. It’s the most costly method, but it’s handled only twice and only by the PO. I think the security and timeliness of getting meds, checks, and important stuff without extra handling outweighs the cost. Altho, I do agree with Frank’s comment about priority mail, it’s never taken 10 days. The USPS is deep into false advertising with their 3 day delivery boost, but the most I’ve experienced was 5 days.

I’ve used general delivery pick up all over the country and never had a problem. However, it is important to know that if there is more than one PO in a town, you need to find out ahead of time which one will be receiving the package.

One thing you might consider is getting your bills sent out at the same time of the month. Most will accommodate your request. Therefore the important stuff will come at the same time.

Also know that getting a UPS or FedEx package delivered to a military installation where you must use general delivery is a pain in the posterior. Those two companies won’t deliver to a PO. So check out the procedure before you order merchandise.

I have tried most all of the methods for getting mail while on the road. Probably one of the more important factors in making your choice is how often you need to get your mail. The longer that time frame is the more options you have. If only once or twice a month, then I forward it to a relative and have them package and send it out. One convenience of this is they can watch for something in particular that I might need or open a piece of mail if that’s in question. If I need it more often and there isn’t anything important to be received, then one of the RV mail forwarding services it fine.

One thing to keep in mind is: "do you really need your mail?" We are gone from home at most two to three months at a time. I just have my mail held at the post office. The USPS says they will only hold it for 30 days but I've found with a good rapport with the mail man we can get around that. (Actually, my mail man is an old friend of over 30 years who lives around the corner from me.) We are set up to pay all our bills but two on line. Of the two that can't be paid on line, the motorhome payment and the city water/garbage bill, they are a set monthly amount and come due every month on the same day. I just automatically mail them a payment from where ever I happen to be. When we get home we have a big tub of mail waiting for us.

Now, I'm also involved in Monaco America coach owners club. I'm currently serving as Treasurer and must have their mail. For that mail only I use a USP store two blocks from my house. I can give them a call and have my mail sent to where ever I am for a $4.00 charge plus postage. I have a deposit with them that they just deduct from. I could just have them charge my credit card each time they forward mail but since this is club money paying for it and not mine I don't want to mix the two. This UPS store thing works out great. When home I'm in there every day checking the mail so I've gotten to know all their employees and they work very well with me. They'll let me call to see what is there, will tell what is there and if there is nothing I need they just put the mail back and I have no charges. A great place to do business.