B737 Next Generation Undifferentiated
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 189; Flight Crew Type 3564
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors; Procedure
We were flight planned on the LINKK arrival into IAH; which would set us up for the ILS 27. When I programmed the FMC; I left in the discontinuity because in the overwhelming majority of flights I do to IAH; I am assigned a different STAR. It's rare that I fly what we are filed for. I left in the discontinuity as a reminder that we might get a different STAR and/or approach.We flew the LINKK mostly as published; save for some speed changes and a few direct-to clearances. All went well until we got to RDFSH. I had selected a transition; which left open the discontinuity. Just prior to RDFSH; we were cleared for the ILS to 27. The controller did not say 'via the RDFSH transition'; so I extended the approach and allowed the airplane to fly in heading select.Shortly thereafter; almost simultaneously; the Captain made a comment about whether or not we were expected to overfly DENTO and TRANN as the controller broke us off the approach and gave us new vectors. He said we had been cleared for the ILS; apparently meaning the full transition starting at RDFSH. The Captain and I briefly discussed what had happened; and as we did; we heard the controller giving similar break-off instructions to a flight behind us that had apparently made the same mistake.We were descended and given a heading to join; and the remainder of the flight was uneventful.
B737NG First Officer reported a track deviation occurred on the LINKK arrival into IAH following clearance confusion.