--- title: "Delay Delivery While on Vacation: Hold Your Cushion Order" url: "https://cushionguide.com/answers/delay-delivery-while-away-travel/" section: "The Cutting Table" author: "Callum Reid, The Weather Man of Casco Bay" author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/callum/" published: "2026-03-09" updated: "2026-03-09" keywords: "delay delivery while on vacation, hold order until I return, delay shipping custom cushions, schedule delivery after travel, vacation hold for delivery" --- # I'll be away when my order is due. Can you delay delivery until I'm back? *Yes. A parcel sitting on an empty porch is at the mercy of the sky, so the workshop would rather hold it for you.* Also asked as: We are traveling two weeks from now.; Please make sure it doesn't arrive before the 29th. > **The quick answer:** Yes, a made-to-measure cushion or sofa order can be held while you travel: tell the workshop your travel or return dates, and it keeps the finished order, checks with you again, and ships it to arrive after you're back. An exact delivery day can't be guaranteed, but once it ships you can manage the day with FedEx directly. ![Ivory linen-look floor sofa with stacked base cushions, back cushions and arm blocks in a limewashed Mediterranean room](https://cushionguide.com/media/modular-floor-sofas/ivory-linen-look-floor-sofa-mediterranean-room-1600.webp "In ivory, the same cushion-built floor sofa almost melts into the limewashed wall.") ## Key facts - Shipments can be timed around your travel dates. - Shipping has been delayed by weeks on request. - The workshop reconfirms with you before a held order ships. - An exact delivery day can't be guaranteed. - Once shipped, you can manage the delivery day with FedEx. - Damage or missing pieces can still be reported if you open the box weeks later. - If a deadline can't be met, you can cancel before shipping. ## Before you leave: the hold-my-order checklist - ✓ **Send your dates in writing:** the day you leave, the day you're back, or the date the parcel must not arrive before. - ✓ **Order now if you like.** The workshop makes it and holds the finished order until the date you give. - ✓ **Expect a check-in.** A held order is reconfirmed with you before it ships. - ✓ **Use a street address.** FedEx needs a full street address; PO boxes and APO/AE military boxes can't be used. - ✓ **Watch for tracking.** Once the parcel ships, you can move the delivery day with FedEx directly. - ✓ **Got a hard deadline?** Say so. If it can't be met, you can cancel before shipping. - ✓ **Opening it late?** Damage or missing pieces can still be reported weeks after delivery. ## Why a held order beats a porch drop Rain doesn't negotiate, friend, and neither does a week of August sun on a cardboard box. A held order lands when someone is home to carry it in. There is a second reason. Cushions and sofas travel vacuum-compressed, and they should be opened promptly and given about 36 to 48 hours to expand. The [first 72 hours Pattern](https://cushionguide.com/guides/vacuum-packed-cushion-first-72-hours/) walks through it, and [vacuum packing](https://cushionguide.com/glossary/#vacuum-packing) explains why the box looks so small. When does your trip start? ## What a hold can't promise - ✗ An exact delivery day. The ship date is timed; the final day belongs to the carrier. - ✗ A new address once the parcel is moving. That goes through FedEx or UPS and isn't guaranteed. - ✗ Delivery to a PO box or APO/AE address, held or not. > **Tailor's margin:** Send your return date with a made-to-measure order; the held order is reconfirmed with you before it ships, and FedEx lets you move the delivery day after. > A cushion order can wait for you: shipping has been held for weeks for buyers who were traveling, then timed to land after they got home. > > — Callum ## Buyer questions **A common question:** I'll be away. Can you delay shipping so the sofa doesn't land before I'm back? **The workshop's answer:** Yes. Tell the workshop your return date and it times the shipment to arrive after it, or before a date you're leaving. **A common question:** Can you hold my order and ship it later, or have it arrive by a certain date? **The workshop's answer:** Yes. Shipping has been delayed by weeks for buyers who were traveling or moving, and the workshop checks with you again before it ships. It also aims for requested dates, and if a deadline can't be met, you can cancel before shipping. **A common question:** Can you hold my order and deliver it on one specific day? **The workshop's answer:** The workshop can ship later, for example after a move or holiday travel. An exact delivery day can't be guaranteed, but once it ships you can arrange the day with FedEx directly. **A common question:** If I can only open the box weeks later, can I still report a problem? **The workshop's answer:** Yes. Share your travel dates so the shipment doesn't arrive while you're away, and if the box has to sit unopened for weeks, you can still contact the workshop then about damage or missing pieces. ## Questions buyers ask next ### Can the delivery address change after a held order ships? Only through the carrier, and it isn't guaranteed. The workshop can email FedEx or UPS, and you can contact the carrier with your tracking number to reroute or collect. Check the address and ZIP code before paying. ### Can a held order go to a PO box while I'm traveling? No. FedEx needs a full street address, so PO boxes and APO/AE military boxes can't be used. Give a home street address or a FedEx pickup point instead, and the hold works the same way. ### How long can a finished order be held? Holds of several weeks have been arranged for buyers who were traveling or moving. Give the exact date you're back, and the shipment is timed from that date rather than from the day the cushions are finished. ## Related at the atelier - [Can you delay shipping so my cushions arrive after I move in?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/delay-delivery-until-after-move-in/): Yes, you can order now and have delivery wait until after you move in: write 'please deliver on or after' and your date in the order note. - [Can I buy now at the sale price and have it delivered later?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/buy-now-ship-later-sale-price/): Yes: you pay the sale price at checkout, and holding the shipment doesn't change it; the workshop keeps the order and ships it for the date you name. - [Can you guarantee my cushion arrives by a certain date or event?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/guaranteed-delivery-date-event-deadline/): No, the workshop won't guarantee a delivery date, but it will aim for yours: it can mark the order urgent, speed up production, upgrade to expedited shipping and time the dispatch. - [Sunbed cushion on a masonry lounger: label the seat and back](https://cushionguide.com/readings/ochre-gray-striped-lounger-cushion-seaside-terrace/): When a sunbed seat cushion and back cushion are almost the same size, write a separate thickness for each piece on the order. - [Commercial seating cushions for cafés, rentals and offices: what to specify](https://cushionguide.com/guides/commercial-cushions-cafe-rental-specs/): Commercial seating cushions need three things a home cushion can skip: contract-grade fabric rated around 40,000 Martindale or more, high-density foam at about 2.0 lb/ft³ (32 kg/m³), and zippered… - [A sofa frame with no cushions: eight rebuilds from past orders](https://cushionguide.com/concepts/sofa-frame-cushion-rebuilds/): Cushions for a sofa frame are cut to the frame you have, not to a catalog sofa. - [From your drawing to your doorstep: how a custom cushion is made](https://cushionguide.com/guides/how-custom-cushions-are-made/) - [Porch swing cushion sizes: measuring a 4, 5 or 6 ft swing](https://cushionguide.com/guides/porch-swing-cushion-sizes/) *Fair winds — Callum* --- Written by Callum Reid (https://cushionguide.com/masters/callum/) for CushionGuide (https://cushionguide.com/about/). The site explains made-to-measure cushions and the partner workshop makes them; measurements are in inches first. This Markdown mirrors the page at https://cushionguide.com/answers/delay-delivery-while-away-travel/