This is correct. One time many years ago when upgrading my entire family out of Kansas City, my (then) young niece was the only one in our group that remained on the DM list. The agent told me that if I filled out a Mileage Plus application for her and we entered the number, she would move up on the list.

We did, she did, and she got it.

So on "the lists"...having a no-status Mileage Plus number is better than having no number at all.