Jim Noble is a high-mileage guy.

While jetting about the planet, selling his software, the CEO of Noble Systems has accumulated more than 31 million Delta SkyMiles.

JENNI GIRTMAN / Staff (ENLARGE)

Jim Noble, with millions and millions of SkyMiles, stows carry-on luggage as his bride, Chantelle, gets ready for their flight to Greece.

HOW TO REDEEM MILES • First, be flexible, particularly during high-travel seasons, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, says Jeff Robertson, managing director of Delta's SkyMiles program. • Consider booking seats on a range of days. • Plan way ahead. Don't try to book a January ski trip to Vail, Colo., in November, he said. • Go to your airline's Web site and search for award seats available for the trip you want to take. • Persistence wins out, says travel expert Clara Bosonetto Maerz. "You have to keep trying, trying, trying, trying." RELATED LINK: Frequent Delta fliers share their stories

That's more than enough miles to fly from Earth to Venus — business class. Or to the moon and back 62 times.

Noble, 48, is frequently airborne between offices in Atlanta; London; Paris; New Delhi, India; Sydney, Australia; and Sao Paolo, Brazil. But he doesn't sit still when the workday's through.

When he and his third wife, Chantelle, decided to tie the knot in April, they dashed off to the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas for three days of shopping and nuptials. Wednesday they left for a 10-day Greek honeymoon — purchased with a 500,000-mile chunk of Noble's SkyMiles holdings.

"There are some beautiful places out there in the world," he said recently, just before his Atlanta-to-Greece flight.

According to Delta Air Lines, that "let's go" attitude made Noble the top earner of SkyMiles, the travel incentive program that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

SkyMiles and other frequent-flier programs have become a strategy for the airline industry to reward and encourage customer loyalty.

And though customers grouse about the challenge of redeeming points, they continue to generate millions of them, through credit cards, car rentals, hotel rooms and other means. (In 1999, a civil engineer from Davis, Calif., took advantage of a Healthy Choice promotion, buying more than $3,000 worth of pudding to generate 1.2 million frequent-flier miles.)

"Frequent-flier miles are the crack cocaine of the travel industry; they are highly addictive," said Christopher Elliott of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Jeff Robertson, managing director of the SkyMiles program, said Delta's recent bankruptcy filing hasn't triggered a run on SkyMiles seats, adding that the company redeemed enough miles to issue 3.3 million SkyMiles tickets last year.

For customers such as Noble, generating miles is no problem. After he opened offices overseas in 2000, he began racking up points briskly, traveling to Europe 20 times one year.

"I've actually slowed down a little bit on the international travel," said the east Cobb County father of four.

Bob Kelly earned his 30,694,012 miles in the trenches, with frequent flights to every capital of every state in the union, plus trips to the U.S. territories. A civilian contractor with the U.S. Army, he works for a company called Scientific Applications International Corp. that provides mobilization software for National Guard units.

The 66-year-old resident of Morrow uses his miles to travel to bowling tournaments around the country, and spreads the love among his buddies in the Greater Atlanta Bowling Association. "I give the guys I go with 35,000 or 40,000 miles to travel, too, because otherwise they couldn't afford it."

Then there are folks who generate miles with both feet on the ground. Chip Matthews, president of Atlanta-based trucking company Benton Express, uses his American Express credit card to pay for fuel for his 350 trucks, to buy parts and for other purchases, running up about $100,000 in charges a month.

This tactic has pushed Matthews into Platinum status among Medallion Club members, meaning that any miles he earns are automatically doubled. Sweet.

"I think it's sort of tricky and sneaky and we do it and it works," said Matthews, 47, the third generation in his family with the company. His lifetime SkyMiles earnings will soon cross the 16 million mark. He and his company redeem the miles vigorously, flying executives to meetings, but also flying family members to vacations.

"I flew my parents first class to Italy," said the Buckhead resident. "That's a great thing to be able to do for your parents."