Captain reported ATC issued a climb 2;000 feet above the filed altitude; crew took the altitude and ...

Narrative:

I had filed a flight plan for FL280. During the climb; a [ZME] center controller issued us a clearance to climb and maintain FL300. My first officer responded accordingly. We were then handed off to the next sector; so we checked in. As we were climbing through FL287; then controller said he thought we had filed for FL280; but was it our intention to climb to FL300? My first officer responded that FL300 would be fine. So the controller cleared us to continue climb to FL300. I don't believe we were ever anywhere close to other aircraft; so no conflicts ever arose. I'm not sure why the previous controller cleared us to FL300 instead of our filed FL280; but it was fine for us so we just accepted it. I'm also not sure why the next sector controller did not know that we had been cleared to FL300; but I think when we checked in we gave him our current altitude and that we were climbing to FL300; as that is our normal procedure in hind sight; I should have had the first officer question the first clearance to FL300 to be sure that's what ATC wanted: perhaps that controller gave us an altitude he was intending for someone else? At least it would have clarified things 100%. As I mentioned before; there were never any traffic conflicts or safety issues; but the potential was there. So when we were issued an altitude higher than what we had filed for; we should have questioned it: just to make sure everyone was on the same page. I have noticed in the last couple months; that controllers seem to be working multiple sectors and are off-line more frequently than was common in the past. Checking in when changing sectors and trying to obtain IFR clearances at rural airports is slower and more cumbersome these days. I suspect this is due to reduced staffing at various facilities during the covid-19 pandemic. This reduced staffing does increase the potential for reduced safety of flight; in my opinion.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain reported ATC issued a climb 2;000 feet above the filed altitude; crew took the altitude and did not question ATC. Another Center Sector Controller eventually asked crew why they were going to newly assigned altitude instead of filed altitude.

Narrative: I had filed a flight plan for FL280. During the climb; a [ZME] Center Controller issued us a clearance to climb and maintain FL300. My FO responded accordingly. We were then handed off to the next sector; so we checked in. As we were climbing through FL287; then Controller said he thought we had filed for FL280; but was it our intention to climb to FL300? My FO responded that FL300 would be fine. So the Controller cleared us to continue climb to FL300. I don't believe we were ever anywhere close to other aircraft; so no conflicts ever arose. I'm not sure why the previous Controller cleared us to FL300 instead of our filed FL280; but it was fine for us so we just accepted it. I'm also not sure why the next sector Controller did not know that we had been cleared to FL300; but I think when we checked in we gave him our current altitude and that we were climbing to FL300; as that is our normal procedure in hind sight; I should have had the FO question the first clearance to FL300 to be sure that's what ATC wanted: perhaps that Controller gave us an altitude he was intending for someone else? At least it would have clarified things 100%. As I mentioned before; there were never any traffic conflicts or safety issues; but the potential was there. So when we were issued an altitude higher than what we had filed for; we should have questioned it: just to make sure everyone was on the same page. I have noticed in the last couple months; that Controllers seem to be working multiple sectors and are off-line more frequently than was common in the past. Checking in when changing sectors and trying to obtain IFR clearances at rural airports is slower and more cumbersome these days. I suspect this is due to reduced staffing at various facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reduced staffing does increase the potential for reduced safety of flight; in my opinion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1745982
Time
Date	202006
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZME.ARTCC
State Reference	TN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 80 Flight Crew Total 14600 Flight Crew Type 230
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Captain reported ATC issued a climb 2;000 feet above the filed altitude; crew took the altitude and did not question ATC. Another center sector controller eventually asked crew why they were going to newly assigned altitude instead of filed altitude.