For background, my wife is immigrating to the US from the Philippines. Originally I had planned to fly to Manila to accompany her back to the US. The Philippines has banned foreigners from the US so that plan is out. Since I miss flying we decided that I will meet her in NRT and accompany her to the US. I booked 2 one way tickets as it was much cheaper than a roundtrip fare and used PointsPlus to upgrade both ways. Transit is allowed in NRT and I would be spending less than 4 hours in the airport as the flight is an immediate return to EWR. I got a call from United saying that I will not be permitted to board because I do not qualify to enter Japan. I tried to explain that I am simply transiting on an immediate turnaround flight. They put me on hold and said I still would not be allowed to board since the transit has to be to a third country and departing and arriving the US means there are only 2 countries involved. This really does not make any sense to me. Has anybody heard something like this before? I am thinking of booking a refundable ticket to a third country but am hesitant since I am not sure what I would do if they deny my boarding in NRT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.