BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — We are entering travel season and as usual you can expect gas prices to go up as we head further into summer.

AAA Alabama said while prices will go up, the summer travel season is looking better than last year.

As of Monday, the state average for gas is $3.28 but travel experts said you can expect that number to increase over the next few months.

As travel ramps up, AAA Alabama said so will the gas prices. Clay Ingram with AAA said he predicts prices will be lower than last year.

According to Ingram, the price of crude oil is down. He said that will help keep prices out of the $4 range like what we saw last summer.

“The way it looks right now, I don’t think we’ll break that $4 a gallon mark. It’s certainly possible but it looks very unlikely at this point. So unless something changes fairly dramatically, I don’t think we’ll get over $4 this year at all,” Ingram said.

Ingram said he anticipates gas prices will reach the highest in may around Memorial Day weekend. He said that’s typically when demand is the highest because of the kick off to summer.

Ingram said things should trickle back down as demand goes down heading into the fall.

Ingram said the best thing you can do to help save some money is price shop.