May 12, 2008 9:01 am US/Eastern
Postage Rates Go Up Today
International & Priority Rates Also Going Up
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
Before you drop your letters or bill payments in the mail, you may want to double check the amount of postage you have on it.
The cost to send a first class letter goes from 41 cents to 42 cents today.
The new rate change will affect all mail received by post offices on Monday, so letters mailed on Sunday should have also have the higher postage on it. Anticipating a run on penny postage, postal officials printed an additional 1.5 billion 1 cent stamps in the last month or so.
The penny increase will also affect post cards which will now require 27 cents in postage.
In getting ready for the postage increase, the U.S. Post Office put a set of five 42 cent stamps on sale in April which featured pioneering journalists. A set of four stamps featuring the American flag flying at different times of day was also released last month, and a 42 cent stamp featuring singer and actor Frank Sinatra will be released Tuesday.
The U.S. Postal Service adjusts their rates each may.
Those who purchased the "forever" stamps for 41 cents will not be affected by the increase since they remain valid for first-class postage regardless of any increases.
While a forever stamp will always be valid for mailing a letter, that doesn't mean the price won't go up. If rates were to increase to 45 cents, for example, that's what a forever stamp would sell for. But stamps already purchased at a lower cost could still be used without adding extra postage.
While the first-class rate will rise to 42 cents for the first ounce, people sending heavier letters - such as wedding invitations - will only see a penny increase. That's because each additional ounce will stay at 17 cents. That means a two-ounce letter will cost 59 cents to mail, compared with 58 cents now.
The cost to mail either a Priority mail flat-rate envelope will increase 20 cents to $4.80. The cost to mail an Express mail flat envelope is also going up a quarter to $16.50.
International rates are also going up.
Letters to Canada and Mexico will rise to 72 cents and to most other countries to 94 cents.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
