Why do some non-U.S. (mostly non-Western) airlines still have ticket offices in downtown areas?

Question

In recent years, U.S.-owned airlines have closed nearly all of their downtown ticket offices. The international carriers that fly the most to the United States--Air Canada, Lufthansa, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic--don't seem to maintain many (any?) of these offices either in the U.S. or in their home countries. But here in Washington, D.C., as well as New York and Chicago, some International airlines still have ticket offices. While it's possible that a tiny fraction of the people who fly TACA don't/can't use the Internet or the telephone, however, people from Qatar and Japan are presumably at least as likely as Americans to be willing to buy tickets on the phone or online. Nonetheless, airlines from these countries maintain downtown ticket offices here in D.C. I realize that these offices sometimes sell things besides air tickets--I bought a Japan Rail pass myself at the ANA office--but these things can hardly pay the bills for pricey downtown leases. Any theories?

Answer 1

D.C. really does seem to have lots of ticket offices.  I find it to be super convenient.  Don't forget, some foreign airlines are government-owned, so they might take care of the bills =]  Oh, and just so you know, Air France still has a few ticket offices left in the US, but they are one of the few non-Asian carriers.