Originally Posted by
skypilot35
Just out of curiosity, what was the clearance?
The way I understand your statement it was something like this:
"Boozer 1234, cleared direct ABCD after reaching FL350."
If this is the case, doesn't that mean ATC expects you to continue the climb on the present heading and then turn direct after reaching the specified altitude?
If this is not the case, I am not understanding your scenario.
Probably more like climb to FL350...passing FL260 cleared direct XXXXX. They didn't turn direct after passing FL260 and the jumpseater caught it. Nice backup.