I have Chitika running in a site where Adsense pays around $0.15 a click. Chitika is paying $0.49 each click, so the lower CTR is well compensated. At least in this specific site, Chitika results better than Adsense. And since you can have both together, why don't give it a chance?
I am really enjoying chitika right now... I think it is a nice spot filler.. not good for all sites or all pages.. but there are some places where it is just really good for.. much better than adsense or anything else I have tried.