Quote Originally Posted by D&D_Fan View Post
Use of cryonic stasis means it's still pretty realistically slow in terms of sci-fi stuff. Space is big. Even if one could travel several times the speed of light, it would still take years, maybe months if it's very fast, but certainly a long time to travel from Sol to Alpha Centauri for example. So based on that, yeah, I think freefall's FTL is probably XC where X is maybe 10 or 20 or something, for cryonic stasis to be necessary.
I think it can be down to something simpler than that.

It's cheaper. Consider the life support and space requirements of someone frozen vs not. Even if you go nutrient and caloric dense on genetically engineered foodstuffs, it still has mass and volume to be accounted for. And you'd need more water and the associated life support systems.

If they're being unfrozen on arrival, less space and mass used up for living quarters, showers, toilets, etc, for people other than the crew.

Since we're not in a Star Trek environment (replicators supplanting the need to carry food and water in storage)... all that adds up. More mass, more fuel, more cost.