Amazon Shipping has published its peak season surcharges for the 2026–27 holiday period. The surcharges run Oct. 25, 2026, through Jan. 16, 2027, and apply automatically on top of the contracted rates you already pay. The structure stays simple compared with the other national carriers: a flat per-package fee with no zone or weight tiering, applied to all packages, commercial and residential alike. Two levels of rates apply across the season. The shoulder rate covers Oct. 25 through Nov. 21 and Dec. 27 through Jan. 16. The higher peak rate covers Nov. 22 through Dec. 26.

The per-package fee rose a flat 25 percent year over year in both windows, moving to $0.50 in the shoulder periods and $0.75 during the peak window. Accessorial increases came in more modestly, in the range of 6 to 10 percent, with the larger increases concentrated in the peak weeks. Additional Handling rose to $8.75 in the shoulder periods and $11.90 during peak, increases of 6.1 percent and 10.2 percent. Large Package rose to $96.25 and $117.50, up 6.9 percent and 9.8 percent. Extra Heavy rose to $530 and $590, up 9.3 percent in both windows.

The per-package fee carries the largest percentage increase on the schedule, and the accessorial lines carry the largest dollars. A single Extra Heavy package moving during the peak window adds the same seasonal cost as the per-package fee on more than 780 parcels. The per-package fee sets your baseline for the season, and your package profile decides what you pay above it.

One point worth noting: the announcement covers Amazon Shipping only. If your holiday plan also runs through Fulfillment by Amazon, Remote Fulfillment with Fulfillment by Amazon, Multi-Channel Fulfillment, or Buy with Prime, those services carry separate holiday charges that begin earlier, running Oct. 15, 2026, through Jan. 14, 2027, with Amazon's 3.5 percent fuel and logistics surcharge applying on top of those fulfillment fees. Amazon Shipping, UPS, FedEx, and the USPS have all raised holiday fees this year, and the Q3 TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index released in July already put 2026 on pace for the highest ground parcel cost per package on record.

Which packages drive most of your peak increase?

Because Amazon Shipping is not tiered by zone or weight, your exposure comes down to two numbers: how many packages you move inside each window, and what share of those packages meet the Additional Handling, Large Package, or Extra Heavy criteria in the Amazon Shipping service guide. High-count, small-parcel operations pay the per-package fee on every unit and absorb the higher rate for the five weeks between Nov. 22 and Dec. 26. Operations moving oversized or heavy volume see the reverse: a small number of parcels can account for most of the seasonal increase. Amazon Shipping also holds its operational policies steady through the season, with no additional residential surcharge and no weekend delivery fee.

Before Oct. 25, model your fourth-quarter volume against the shoulder and peak rates separately rather than blending them into one seasonal average. Then pull dimensions and weights on the parcels closest to each accessorial threshold. Packaging changes made in September keep some of that volume below the thresholds. The same changes made in December do not.

TransImpact built the full 2026–27 Amazon Shipping peak surcharge reference so you can see every fee, both rate levels, and the year-over-year change in one place. Download it here.