Liz Overduin says she felt she had no choice but to fly while she had swine flu. (CBC)

A woman who tried to rebook her Air Canada flight because she contracted H1N1 was told by the airline that she would have to pay an extra $692 to push back her departure date.

Liz Overduin said she felt she had no choice but to fly sick.

Overduin has since recovered from her illness, but says she hasn't recovered from the treatment she got from Air Canada.

CBC News contacted Air Canada for comment on this story. But an airline spokesperson said the company is complying with all regulations.

It all started when Overduin decided to accompany her daughter Jody on a trip to the north. Jody was relocating to start a new job and wanted to have her car with her in her new location. They decided to drive together with the plan being that Liz would fly back to her home alone.

To protect her from legal ramifications, CBC News has agreed not to disclose her departure and arrival cities.

Overduin booked her flight on the internet and decided at that time to pay about $35 for trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

"I very rarely get sick but I guess because it wasn't too expensive and you never know what can happen, I bought the insurance."

They set out on their trip, marvelling at the scenery and wildlife they saw along the way and stopping to visit relatives in northern British Columbia. That's when Liz thinks she contracted H1N1.

By the time they arrived at their destination, Liz felt unwell. Her and her daughter's plans for their time together fell apart as she needed time to convalesce. "We pretty much just stayed in the motel room."

Her daughter suggested they go see a doctor, who confirmed Overduin had H1N1. The doctor wrote a note that said "Liz Overduin is unfit to travel due to H1N1 illness" and suggested she could fly again two days later than originally planned.

But when Overduin called the airline to reschedule the flight, she hit turbulence.

"I called Air Canada thinking it would be good for them to know that I had this and they could maybe accommodate me by having me fly a few days later," she says. But she was told that she would have to re-book the flight and pay almost $700 more than she originally paid.

"I couldn't believe it. I asked why it was so much now and they said it was something about availability. It was very frustrating, just the amount of time you are put on hold," Overduin said.

In the end, the airline told her that she could reschedule, but that the price for the later flight was almost $700 more than her original flight. Insurance would reimburse her for the original flight costs, but she was still faced with having to pay hundreds of dollars more to give her two extra days to recover.

"I told them that I could not afford to buy another ticket but I just needed to fly a few days later when I knew I wasn't feeling as bad. And it shouldn't be that hard to change flights around and not charge the person the new cost of a ticket," she said.

It left Overduin feeling that she had no choice but to get on the plane. Luckily her fever had subsided and she was starting to feel better, but she still went out of her way to protect her fellow passengers.

"I stuck to myself. I didn't use the washroom, I didn't make conversation, I tried very hard to sort of quarantine myself on the plane, but I probably shouldn't have been on the plane.

"With all the things on the news about it I thought that they would be going out of their way to make sure that I wasn't getting on the plane. And so I was frustrated and disappointed."

Because of the global pandemic, some airlines, such as United, are waiving fees for passengers with H1N1, allowing them to reschedule their travel without additional costs until they are well. Margaret Somerville, a medical ethicist at McGill University in Montreal, was appalled by Overduin's experience.

"With a doctor's note ... to let her get on even if she wanted [to] would have been irresponsible. The airline has a responsibility, a duty of care."

The Air Canada spokesperson said the company was following the guidance issued by Transport Canada, which in turn relies on the Public Health Agency of Canada. PHAC's policy was last updated on Oct. 29, 2009: "Travel companies, airlines, bus lines and others who operate public conveyances may wish to develop policies that facilitate the easy rebooking of travel due to illness, if such policies do not already exist".

But for Liz Overduin, it was anything but easy.

"I felt that the airline was putting me in an awkward position," she said. "I would have respected them more if they would have … been able to change my flight, even if I would have pay some extra — just not that much extra."