Well I ALWAYS try to have an escort... its just annoying that if I get stopped by a pirate in a fighter he blows up my transport even if it means he dies after... cause I don't pay (cause well my escort is tangling with him) That pirate did end up with a 5 million price tag on his head though...
I have to agree with Ivan on the corsairs, they are the "fairest" of all pirates, although my character does quite a few food/pharma/deluxe food (for some party) for them. I generally get away with VIP transports (not to crete!) due to that;)
HOWEVER VIP's are not all that money wise, you have to divide the "gain" by 5 since they take 5 (!) slots... that cuts the massive difference in price by 5 and gives you a rather... average gain. Alien Organisms on the way back are very very sweet though (and almost make up for it)
The diamond niobium run is simply the best for money. I get 7-9 mil per run. For the VIP/Alien route through the O's I get 5 mil//9 mil
My suggestion? VIP's=4 places, which would put the routes at approximately the same. And try (heck use some of the route analyzers out there to balance stuff) to get a "good" trade route running in all sectors.
As for bigger traders? Uhm no, my character would love it but... no. It would skew the trader vs pirates even more.
To Recap:
VIPs=4 slots (as opposed to 5)
"Good" routes in all systems (yeah easy to say)
Something in the rules about an escort (whats the point in paying for an escort if the pirate just blows me up o.O ... yeah I don't pay the escort... but unsatisfactory for everyone really)
I've tried to forget, I've tried SO HARD to forget...
