Peter, thanks for starting this topic.
The replies on that HomeAway community thread, and elsewhere, are almost unanimously opposed to the changes, in one way or another.
As Michelle touched out, HomeAway has spent years chasing Airbnb, never realizing that their customers aren't the same as Airbnb customers. Their customers are VR professionals that rent out properties as a business. Those customers want professional tools, lots of options and personalization to their own tastes. They don't want their fortunes linked to any one listing site. They don't want listing sites to force them to use one particular calendar, take one particular type of payment or restrict them from talking to their customers how they choose. They want tools that highlight their own business and not the business of the listing site.
HomeAway really needs to be accentuating their differences with Airbnb and highlighting the advantages of their own model instead of spending millions chasing the same type of development.
