B737 FLC REQUEST FOR CHANGE IN ROUTING TO DEST. ZHU ISSUES ROUTING CHANGE DIRECT 'JACKSON;' WHICH THE PIC INTERPS AS AN INTXN JAXSN; VA. THE FO QUESTIONS PIC ASSUMPTION; EXPECTING JAN VORTAC; MS. JAN WAS CORRECT CLRNC.

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FLT (ACR X) FROM IAH TO IAD AT FL330 VIA ABNORMAL RTE OVER ATL FOR 'FLOW CTL.' (IAH IAH2 LFK JAN VUZ J14 CREWE J51 FAK COATT3 IAD.) ('GLASS' B737-300.) I'D NOT DONE THIS RTE BEFORE; BUT HAD FLOWN IN THE SE IN THE MIL. THE FO HAD DONE IT ONCE AND FLOWN IN THE SE IN THE MIL. AS THE RTE WAS 10-15 MINS LONGER THAN THE NORMAL RTE (AND MADE US LATE); AT CRUISE I STARTED ASKING ZHU IF THEY COULD WORK OUT A MORE DIRECT RTE UP TOWARD SPA OR EVEN FAK FROM AROUND LAKE CHARLES. THE FIRST CTLR SAID NO; BUT THE SECOND SAID HE'D TRY. AFTER A SHORT TIME; THE SECOND CTLR SAID WE WERE CLRED TO 'JACKSON.' AS I'D HOPED FOR A DIRECT CLRNC TO SOMEWHERE IN SC OR NC; I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT HE'D CLRED US TO JAXSN INTXN; ON THE AIRWAY IN THE CAROLINAS. I LINE SELECTED JAXSN AND THE PLANE LNAV'ED ABOUT 10 DEGS L TOWARD THE CAROLINAS. THE FO LOOKED PUZZLED AND ASKED IF WE WERE CLRED TO JACKSON; MS. AS I WASN'T FAMILIAR WITH THE RTE; I DID NOT REALIZE THAT THE JAN WAYPOINT ON THE CDU WAS 'JACKSON.' I HAD; THROUGH WISHFUL THINKING; SELECTED 'JAXSN' ON THE RTE. WE ASKED ATC TO CLARIFY WHICH WAYPOINT WE HAD CLRNC TO. THE ANSWER WAS THE JACKSON VORTAC -- JAN. WE THEN CHANGED THE RTE IN THE CDU AND RETURNED TO THE PLANNED RTE WITH ONLY A MINOR DEV TO THE N. WHILE MY 'ASSUMPTION;' BASED ON WISHFUL THINKING; LED ME TO SELECT JAXSN INTXN FOR OUR DIRECT CLRNC; I DON'T THINK IT'S TOO GOOD AN IDEA TO HAVE A RTE WITH A NAVAID AND AN INTXN BOTH USING THE SANE 'NAME.' THIS ALSO SAYS A LOT FOR OPEN COM IN THE COCKPIT.