….Nothing, except they all made our list of travel news items for the day:

In the New York Times, Joe Sharkey laments the return of the Saturday night stay rule, designed to discourage business travelers from booking the lowest airfares.

At the same time a hated old rule may be coming back, a well-loved new airline has launched its latest new route. Virgin America began flights between Seattle-Tac and Los Angeles International today.

Moving on from planes flying high in the sky, we land on news of a visa crack down in China. Chinese authorities have reportedly begun limiting visas in Hong Kong, which is popular entry point for travelers to the vast nation. The changes are reportedly in response to security concerns expected to come with the influx of tourists visiting the country before, during and after the Olympics.

Back in the States, we learned that the FAA has responded to increased criticism and scrutiny of its airline safety inspection practices by reassigning (but not firing) its top inspection official to a pencil-pushing administrative position instead.

And that’s not the only travel-related spring cleaning that’s going on today. Gizmodo highlights an airplane cabin for sale on eBay. Wondering what one would do with an intact airplane cabin? The seller has plenty of creative, if not practical, ideas.

If you’re looking for more creative ideas, you’ll find plenty among the 2008 Webby Award nominees, which were announced today. We weren’t surprised to see our parent company, Kayak.com, on the list.

And speaking of awards, here are some for all the four-legged travelers in the house: Animal Fair magazine has announced its 2008 Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards for best pet-friendly companies. Continental won out among airlines, while Austin’s The Driskill Hotel prevailed in the hotel category. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess scored highest in the resort category.

What’s the biggest travel news of the day? Well, for airlines, things are still looking pretty bleak. Joining Aloha Airlines and ATA, Skybus shuttered its doors over the weekend, and British Airways is still trying to paw its way out of the Heathrow Terminal 5 mess that’s made its shiny new building the hub of what is quite possibly the biggest travel debacle thus far in 2008. Continental has decided to join the fray of airlines charging $25 for coach passengers to check a second piece of luggage.

While some airlines are busy charging travelers more, some are having sales. JetBlue’s spring sale is going on now and keeps popping up on just about every travel newsletter I’ve gotten today - and I get a lot of travel deals newsletters. Speaking of JetBlue, I had been wondering about the exact cost of JetBlue’s new extra legroom offering ever since I learned of the new program, and now we have the answer. The New York Times reported yesterday that the airline is pricing its roomier seats (38″ of pitch) at $10 extra for flights under 600 miles, $15 for those between 600 and 1,500 miles and $20 for flights over 1,500 miles.

Extra legroom isn’t the only new perk to be offered to airline passengers. Today, the EU announced that it will allow aircraft operating in the region to offer in-flight mobile phone services. Get ready for some in-flight altercations to go along with that. Like star-crossed lovers that just can’t call it quits, Delta and Northwest are reportedly back in merger talks.

Meanwhile, Kiplinger’s has added a new Business Travel section to its online offerings. A quick perusal revealed some decent articles, nothing earth-shattering yet, but we’ll keep checking back.

And with that, we’re off to dig through more RSS feeds, blogs and travel news sources. Back tomorrow with more of the latest travel news.

Just so we’re all clear about this Open Skies business, you know - the agreement that goes into effect this coming Sunday, U.S. travelers may soon have more choices for traveling to and from Europe, but they shouldn’t count on those choices being any cheaper over the long run. Two stories to read, compare, ponder:

Getting to Europe Is About to Get Easier

Open Skies Won’t Mean Lower Fares

And all this leads us to an important question: how much will travelers value choice when prices are roughly the same?

My hope is that the increased competition that comes with the Open Skies agreement encourages better conditions for travelers - even those better conditions have nothing to do with cheaper airfares. Like better schedules, shorter travel times or the availability of more in-flight services…

The Clear program, which launched yesterday at both Washington’s Reagan National and Dulles International airports, is already reporting record-breaking usage of its new lanes at gateways to the nation’s capitol. Interestingly, I noticed yesterday morning at peak travel time on the West Coast - around 6:30 a.m. - that no one was using the Clear registered traveler lane in the terminal I happened to be entering at San Francisco International Airport. Given all the hype around the program, I was surprised to see that not one person used the lanes during the time I progressed through the security process. Just an observation.

Have you ever put a price on the comfort of your calves? JetBlue announced yesterday that it will start doing just that later this year, when the airline plans to roll out a pay-for-extra legroom program to boost revenue. There’s no question that many frequent travelers would pay more for additional inches between their knees and the seat ahead. The question, of course, is how much more?

The new program figures heavily in the airline’s plans to boost revenue by 60 percent this year. Right now, there’s no word on just how much JetBlue will charge for the privilege of additional space. Nor has the airline released details about how much legroom travelers can expect, how many of the premium seats there will be on JetBlue planes or how the airline plans to adjust cabin interiors to accommodate the new program.

Jet Blue to Charge Extra for More Legroom

Travelers worried about the effects of a Northwest-Delta merger can stop fretting. The New York Times reported this morning that members of the Delta pilots association received a letter announcing that merger negotiations have been called off. It seems seniority issues among the thousands of pilots at both airlines were just too gnarly on both sides for the negotiations to continue. With the merger off the table, travel experts are speculating that the airlines will instead turn to other cost-saving measures, including service cuts and fare hikes (which Northwest did earlier this week).

Pilots’ Talks Apparently Fail in a Northwest-Delta Hookup

And another one bites the dust:

Northwest Hikes Fares

On Friday, we blogged that United hiked fares by $50 on some domestic flights.

As usual, one airline’s decision to charge higher prices has had a domino effect. Continental Airlines announced on Friday that it would match United’s lower fares. Other major airlines are expected to follow suit.

United, Continental Increase Round-Trip Fares as much as $50

Travelers, brace thyselves. What you’re about to read is likely to please you about as much as a stick in the eye. Last night, United Airlines hiked domestic fares as much as $50 to compensate for rising fuel costs. FareCompare’s Rick Seaney views the airline’s decision to “throw down the gauntlet” as a challenge to other airlines who fear increasing ticket prices by such leaps and bounds.

But while United may be stepping away from the pack with its proverbial gauntlet, we just feel like they’re going medieval on us travelers. (I won’t mention the fact that I recently read in Wired magazine that ticket prices are actually cheaper today on average, when you account for inflation, than they were two decades ago. Because then I couldn’t complain).

Fare increases depend on the flight distance and route, but range from $4 to $50. Expect to see those troublesome $50 hikes on routes where United doesn’t compete with low cost carriers.

The news comes just one piddly week after United announced additional fuel surcharges of $6-$10 on domestic round trip flights.

In other news, it’s Friday. So that’s something.

United “Throws Down the Gauntlet” with Fare Hike

The first non-stop flight from LAX to the Middle East touches down this September, when Emirates airlines plans to launch daily flights between the West Coast city and Dubai. The 16-hour flight will include a stop for plane changes, but will otherwise be direct.

At the moment, judging from a look this morning for flights from San Francisco and Dubai, a traveler would need to spend between 20 and 33 hours flying to reach Dubai from the West Coast, with connections in either Atlanta, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich, Hong Kong, etc.

The addition of this new route certainly makes reach this part of the world faster and more convenient for travelers based on the West Coast.

Emirates to Make LAX its Third US Gateway