Stop letting the warp service cartels drive fear into you. They have been ripping you off long enough. And no 25 ped is not reasonable nor has it ever been. I felt bad charging 15 ped a flight in my starfinder years ago, multiple passengers split that 15 ped. Because back then the crafted warps came out to a 7 ped total cost. Now... more like 4-5. 2 people or more paying 25 ped each to ride a 5 ped cost is a pure ripoff.
There are no pirates.
There is no reason to pay anymore aside from convenience.
You would need to seriously be off your game to let someone loot you in space.....like letting them follow you for at least 3 minutes in any direction kind of dumb.
Space is 3d, go up or down on the plane and don't go point a to point b, and the odds are pretty astronomical for them to know where you enter pvp space.....which is only about 3 minutes in actual pvp of the total 20 minute flight caly-rt for example. Certainly not worth the wait in any one point, especially considering if you are in non pvp and come up on some pirate camping that pvp zone...you can just turn around and be back and safe before they can catch up and into laser range... even in a firebird v quad.
I've been in warp mines...they are not worth the time or the money, and no-one can organize these days if they wanted to be effective at all. I doubt anyone around besides those warp cartels know how to operate the mines. So if they ever become active....again...its likely the warp services that are feeding the pirates behind it. Deeds are no longer given to pirates to drive fear into terrified warp "customers" with the old system and its glorious. (mostly because even with payoffs, there is no more reasonable looting opportunities for pirates without wasting hours on end waiting for the small chance they come flying by your tiny ship in massive space) Camping a SS is one thing where everyone has to come near it, camping a random spot in space is entirely different.
I actually miss them, they helped me unlock deep space knowledge with all of their fruitless attacks, since I have been more than happy to provide PED losses to them over the years. Some good things come about, eventually you make friends and realize the dark sides that fund them, win or lose, they got paid.
And if you add up the sheer amounts of PED siphoned off the terrified player base in warps over the years... you can see why.
I Firebird warp daily multiple times a day to most planets for sales, sometimes with loot, sometimes I am too heavy for my warp ship and need to quad back with more loot ( less actual risk in the quad vs the off chance a warp mine gets put up) ... pirates are a non issue. 100%