I've been boarded on a plane, waiting for the rest of the PAX to board, when all the folks around me (and my own) phones start ringing to tell us the updated departure time of our flight. (Well duh, I could tell you it's about 20 minutes from right about now...)

I agree - it is hit-and-miss at times.

In regards to other things mentioned in this thread, I've been called by the system to tell me my flight is delayed. I immediately check my connection and see if it is delayed sufficiently... if it's not, I call in on the A-List-Preferred hotline and ask them if they can reroute me to not miss getting to my destination. Even on a WGA fare, they've always accommodated this when there's a chance of a missed connection. This is how an A-L-P customer ends up with a B-32 boarding pass... :-( (which means you get to board as A-61 essentially)