Medium Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness
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 Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Chart Or Publication; Procedure; Human Factors
I was the pilot flying. We were at our cruising altitude when ATC gave us direct Charlottesville. I selected the fix on the FMS and confirmed with the captain and he agreed. Shortly after ATC asked if we were direct Charleston. The captain replied; negative; we are direct Charlottesville. ATC said that he wanted us 10 degrees right and to proceed direct Charleston VOR which was HVQ.  ATC did not give us the phonetic ID on initial assignment.This controller was hard to understand. We proceeded direct HVQ (Charleston); got a frequency change and flew on uneventfully to Charlottesville.Charlottesville and Charleston sound very similar on the radio. We did not verified with ATC whether he wanted us direct to the airport or the VOR.When there are similar sounding fixes including airports that could be confused with each other; ATC should state the fix using the phonetic alphabet. Also; we as a crew should always verify fixes with ATC no matter how many times we have flown the same routes. Complacency played a part in this event because at the end we are the ones flying the airplane and responsible for its lateral and vertical paths of it.
Air carrier First Officer Pilot reported confusion between two similar sounding fixes (airport Charlottesville and VOR Charleston).