Jizzmonkey...trust me on this, the amount of times that you catch the wrong flight on crew direct is actually minimal.
Reserve pretty much takes care of it's self. Often though you will get a call out 3-4 days before the trip, which means once you have acknowledge it, CC do not have to worried about manning the trip.
Often they will give you a flight that leaves early in the morning which is within 2hours of starting reserve and therefore they know that the flight will be manned on time.
By not looking at the CD system, they have to call you on the phone and still give you enough time to get there, the more they do it the harder it gets for them!
DO NOT LOOK AT CREW DIRECT!!!!