I'm on the trip, and I've died 3 times since the expedition started. Once, I was killed by an NPC because I forgot about 2 tons of cargo in my hold(my fault). I also nuked myself trying to take off from The View waypoint in a T9 without a firm understanding of take-off procedures on high-g worlds(my own fault again).
Then, I was blown up by another player in the PG, who violated the rules of the PG. I hit the rebuy screen and paid my dues, respawned back at a station. I don't fly without rebuy, and even though there were rumors and speculation about anti-ganking measures and rebuy forgiveness for this trip, I chose to abide by the old rules and rebuy anyway.
I understand FD's point of view for this event: This trip has not only caused a massive influx of players to return to the game(a huge win for all but the anti-social players of this game), the press coverage has also increased the new player count coming in, both of which are HUGE positives for the game state as a whole. FD are taking steps to ensure that, especially for new players, one big aspect of the learning curve is lessened so these new players don't quit out the first time they hit the rebuy screen. As this is an officially sponsored trip, certain rules may(or may not) be changed to accommodate the success of the players, and I have no problem with that. What's good for the players, is good for the developers and for the income of the studio, and I would like to see FD make enough money off this event to continue development for a long time to come.
However, as I said, I chose to rebuy all 3 times I died. As a veteran player, it's always been a part of the game for me, there's no reward without risk and doing something stupid got me killed 2 out of the 3 times. The 3rd was an example of a player deciding to break the rules of the PG he had joined, and to be fair, we all knew going into this that a few of those 10,000 players who signed up would be griefers trying to prey on easy targets. The player involved was removed from the PG and the Discord, and I haven't seen him since. I'm back on the trip and aside from losing a copilot and some discovery data(and a few hours worth of jumping), I'm still enjoying myself.
Getting up in arms about players in the event(the biggest player event ever organized) getting a free respawn isn't worth crying about. Overall, having more players in the game is a good thing, imo, and FD going above and beyond for this event is a win, in my book.
Just because they offer a "get out of jail free" card against griefers during this trip, doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.