Nov. 2--ere's a big surprise: If you plan to travel around the upcoming holidays, prepare to pay a little more -- again. Really?

Several of the largest U.S. airlines have increased a surcharge for travel on the busiest travel days to $20 each way, up from $10.

The surcharges apply to a large number of flights within the U.S. on more than a dozen peak days around holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

Delta, American, United, US Airways and Northwest all boosted their surcharge on some routes, said Tom Parsons, who runs the discount travel site Bestfares.com.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith confirmed the higher surcharges Monday. He said that although airlines are filing the increases as a surcharge this time, "fares on those peak days have always tended to be higher. It's a matter of supply and demand."

Smith said the increases started late last week with US Airways, and "most other airlines, including American, have matched."

US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant confirmed the higher peak-day surcharges, but he said his airline did so only "to match moves by our competitors."

Toyota discloses US findings on floor mats

Toyota says its vehicles are not at risk of accelerating out of control unless the driver's side floor mat is incorrectly installed or is not meant for that vehicle.

The Japanese automaker says the finding is the result of a U.S. government investigation into the possibility of unintentional acceleration in some of its vehicles. In August, Toyota announced a recall of 3.8 million vehicles in the U.S., urging the owners of the recalled vehicles to remove their driver's side floor mat because of the risk they could jam the accelerator pedal.

Toyota says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reviewed allegations of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles six times, clearing the automaker each time.

strong>Another Droid phone

Verizon Wireless plans to release the second phone in its Droid lineup this week as it prepares for the holiday shopping season, according to a Bloomberg News report.

The phone, made by Taiwan-based HTC Corp., will be available on Nov. 6 for about $99.

It will be Verizon's final Droid device, based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system, before the holidays.

The new model will cost half as much as the Droid device Verizon unveiled last week. The two companies are creating phones that employ each other's programs. The marketing campaign for the Droid will be the largest in the carrier's history as it gears up to sell more smart phones to tap growth in data plans, Verizon said.

Regulators deny Merck drug request

U.S. regulators won't accept drugmaker Merck's application for a new combination cholesterol pill that includes rival Pfizer's Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug.

Merck & Co. disclosed the rare move by the Food and Drug Administration in a regulatory filing on Monday.

The company had said about 2 1/2 years ago that it planned to make and market a cholesterol pill combining Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor with Zetia, a cholesterol pill Merck jointly sells with partner Schering-Plough Corp.

In September, Merck applied to the FDA for approval of its combo pill.

But Merck says the FDA refused to file the application and instead is requiring more data on the manufacturing and stability of the drug.

Toyota expects sales boost

Toyota Motor Corp. said U.S. sales of new vehicles may rise to as many as 11.7 million cars and trucks in 2010, about a million more than the company forecasts for this year.

U.S. growth should resume next year, said Bob Carter, group vice president for Toyota's U.S. sales unit, Monday at a Detroit briefing. The company expects industry sales of 10.3 million to 10.5 million in 2009, he said.

Fewer vacancies at the inn

Hyatt Hotels Corp., which plans to raise as much as $1.14 billion in an initial public offering this week, said occupancy has stabilized, though it expects "continued pressure" on room rates.

"The economic recession will continue to significantly affect all of our customer segments," Hyatt said in a regulatory filing today. "We have recently seen some stabilization in occupancy and believe this trend could continue for the remainder of the year. However, we expect that there will likely be continued pressure on average room rates."

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