Throwaway because this situation is very specific.
My partner, a U.S. citizen, was traveling from Rwanda back to Montana on Turkish Airlines. The original routing included a fuel stop in Uganda where passengers do not disembark, but due to current Ebola-related restrictions, Turkish rerouted the itinerary through Nairobi instead to avoid Uganda entirely.
For context, CDC rules require travelers who have recently been in certain countries (including Uganda or DRC) to enter the U.S. through designated airports for screening, so airlines sometimes adjust routings to comply.
After completing the rerouted itinerary via Nairobi, he was denied boarding in Istanbul for his onward flight to Seattle. It appears there was a failure in communication regarding the updated routing with U.S. customs requirements, and he was still flagged as if he had transited Uganda.
Turkish Airlines then rebooked him only as far as JFK, one of the designated entry airports, and told him he would need to pay separately for the JFK to Montana segment.
I’m trying to understand if this is standard procedure or if something went wrong here, because the situation doesn’t make sense from a passenger perspective.
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